I work in a fantastic place. About 14 years ago, I transferred away from primary care to dermatology and have never looked back. I’m now seeing more patients per day than I’ve ever done, and I no longer stay hours behind after the office is close…
Category: Conditions
How do we explain the unexplainable? Are there words for the things we’ve experienced?
I’m usually good with words. The last year and a half of being a “front line nurse” has left me struggling to find the words. The frustration, anger, trauma, and sadness have so muddied my mind that I find it hard to sort through all of the complexitie…
Is it a badge of honor to refuse the vaccine but choose to die?
You know that if you don’t get vaccinated and you don’t wear a mask, you potentially will die. You go to super spreader events, big groups at beaches, football games, baseball games … loads of people laughing and clapping, and shoulder to shoulder. You…
The end, through the eyes of a critical care nurse
On the day you die from COVID, many things will happen. A colleague and I will enter the room to carefully prepare and clean your body. We will shut off all the IV pumps. We will turn off the ventilator. We will silence and turn off the monitor that is…
A memoir of misunderstanding, loss, and learning
An excerpt from More to Life than More: A Memoir of Misunderstanding, Loss, and Learning. The MRIs were illuminated by a lightbox. A small group of us in Dr. Kelly’s office gathered around the images. We were looking at Lee’s brain. It could have been …
9/11: In memory of the blue man
I was working as a doctor in a Kentucky clinic when I first met Mr. Stroud. The year was 2013. Mr. Stroud was memorable for several reasons. The first reason? He was blue. He was a 45-year-old stocky guy, pleasant in demeanor, with blue eyes and red ha…
A summary of state of the art COVID treatment
Prevention Our most effective weapons are lockdowns, masks, distancing, ventilation and vaccination, but we can also protect close patient contacts pharmacologically. Subcutaneous REGEN-COV (Regeneron’s monoclonal antibody combo, casirivimab plus imdev…
The art of diagnosis
Wood art The taxing journey of going through an illness often has the turning point of hearing a “diagnosis.” Diagnosis locks a person inside a sick body. Diagnosis is a label that dictates certain behavior in an individual and the whole ci…
National Physician Suicide Awareness Day: Break the silence
“I don’t know if I can keep doing this” “I can’t see a way out.” “I feel stuck – trapped.” What is it like? That feeling of being exhausted, stuck, not feeling like there is a way out. I think of it as running a marathon where you can’t stop. Y…
Clearing the air our kids share: a prescription for healthy schools
As a pulmonary and critical care doctor and the mother of three children too young to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, life has been harrowing. At the beginning of the summer, however, I was beginning to breathe a sigh of relief. My children had been in sch…
