Author's posts
Mom’s new pacemaker: a story
An excerpt from A Fullness of Uncertain Significance: Stories of Surgery, Clarity, & Grace. “None are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm.” -Henry David Thoreau My mother, bless her ninety-year-old heart, is slowing down. The t…
The environmental impact of anesthesia
I am in the operating room working with an attending anesthesiologist I have known for years. “Tell me,” I ask, “Do you and your colleagues talk about the difference between Des and Sevo?” He looks at me without responding. R…
Why this physician wanted to be a head and neck surgeon
Head and neck cancer surgeons know when “the questions” are coming. A casual conversation eventually turns to, “What do you do for a career?” The pleasant exchange is replaced with talk of disfigurement and life-threatening illness. The person’s brow f…
Medical students and physicians are forever looking to milestones
“I don’t want to get to the end of my life and find that I lived just the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well.” – Diane Ackerman Nathan picks up a pen from the tray next to the dry erase boards. “OK,” he s…
