I’m sitting in a windowless room in the hospital’s urology department waiting for my second prostate biopsy, feeling surprisingly calm and relaxed. It’s a surveillance biopsy. Two years ago, the first one revealed “a few scatter…
Category: Conditions
The power of empathy: a tale of two prostate biopsies
I’m sitting in a windowless room in the hospital’s urology department waiting for my second prostate biopsy, feeling surprisingly calm and relaxed. It’s a surveillance biopsy. Two years ago, the first one revealed “a few scatter…
Surviving my nephrectomy nightmare: the night I’ll never forget
My first post-op night after my nephrectomy was a mix of fantastical and almost devastating. I woke up in the PACU after my surgery, extremely confused and disoriented. I felt like I was trapped inside a video game, desperately trying to escape. Upon e…
Ehlers-Danlos syndrome: Overcoming doctor bias for a life-changing diagnosis
“Do you have Ehlers-Danlos syndrome?” It wasn’t a question I expected during an ophthalmology appointment. It was, however, one I’d been asked before. Two other specialists had suggested I might have connective tissue issues, but noth…
From trusted family doctors to silent white walls
The face of health care in today’s world is unfamiliar to me in many ways. When I was growing up, the family doctor was a well-known and respected member of the community. Patients trusted their doctor to help them navigate life’s challenge…
Dry January’s untold value for older adults: a health revolution beyond youth
As Dry January gains popularity and inspires millions of people to abstain from alcohol for a month, its focus appears to be geared towards young adults. A demographic that is often overlooked, but is likely to benefit significantly from this movement,…
Beyond Ozempic: Why one size doesn’t fit all in weight loss
I grew up in Birmingham, Alabama, which is generally associated with a diet of all fried food. Prior to medical school, I thought many adults around me would eventually succumb to a diagnosis of hypertension and diabetes since they didn’t appear to thi…
Autism spectrum disorder and medicine: strengths, challenges, and stories
Dr. Shaun Murphy (played by Freddie Highmore) stars in ABC’s The Good Doctor, a television drama that centers around an autistic surgeon whose job at the hospital was frequently threatened and would be lost if it were not for the practical and em…
Postpartum does not equal depression
You hear it in conversations with friends when returning to work. Maybe in clinic visits with your patients. Definitely among celebrities and on mainstream media. And maybe you’ve even said it yourself. ” “My sister suffered with post…
We need to step up for Black mothers
I started my day today (ironically, Martin Luther King Day) reading another tragic story about a young Black mother who hemorrhaged to death after giving birth in a large public hospital in Brooklyn. Statistics tell a shocking story. The maternal death…
