Author's posts
What makes the perfect doctor?
I’m an ER doc, and I spent my last two decades in the house of medicine. First, training to become a doctor. Then, trying to be a better doctor. No matter how hard I tried, I’ve never been the “perfect doctor.” I started wonderi…
Why choose a woman doctor?
Like all doctors, I’m a lousy patient. My doctor is a lovely man, but going to see him? That’s right there with weighing myself, getting a flu shot and doing my taxes, and behind celebrating Thanksgiving with the in-laws and getting a root canal. And I…
Why this physician never tells anyone she’s a doctor
I’m an ER doc, and proud of it. But I never mention it when I meet new people. Unless someone’s fixing to die, I avoid it like the plague. “I work in a hospital,” I say. “Where in the hospital?” “The ER. How about you?” That’s a topic changer, since mo…
A mercy killer in the ER
An excerpt from Mercy. I love kids. Pretty kids. Nice kids. Normal kids. Not this. This is not a kid. This is thirty pounds of human flesh kept alive by devices. Peg tube, tracheostomy, ventilator. He’s got contractures everywhere. He’s so folded he’d …
Why doctors make bad patients
I’m a doctor. And, like most medical professionals, I’m a bad patient. Two years after my last appointment, I got a CTJ, “Come to Jesus” from my doctor. I called his office for a form. I needed proof that I don’t have tertiary syphilis. For my Thai vis…
40 pro tips for your loved ones’ ER visits
1. Tell us about your loved one: What brings them in? What’s their baseline? What changed today? But don’t speak FOR them, unless they can’t. That gets us worried. That’s what abusers often do. 2. Talk to us about your their code status (what should w…
Sex in the elderly is not a need. It’s a privilege.
If you’re sexy, fit and nimble, if you can part your thighs and bend your knees, if you can see your private parts without a mirror, ignore this. Move on. This is not for you. This is for those with flailing sex-drive and failing abilities whose sex li…
Can you put me to sleep? Why ER physicians have to say no.
The heavy young man curled on his left side is in the ER for a pain in his backside. The sweaty blue dragon on his chest smells like fear. “It’s an abscess. I’ll have to open it. It’s gonna hurt.” “Can you put me to sleep? I hate pain.” I can. Should I…
The sweet path to hell: addiction in medical professionals
K: “I was assaulted by an intoxicated female. She punched me and ruptured two discs in my back. I lost my whole self. I could no longer take the CPR course required. I lost my income that was supporting me and my three children. I needed the narcotics …
Why are we hemorrhaging emergency nurses?
I started my medical career late. Really late. By that time, I’d lived a few lives. I’d earned a boatload of initials. I’d changed husbands, languages, and continents. I’d written a useless novel, and I’d been a Mary Kay lady. One day over lunch as I w…
