Amidst beeping monitors, I sat holding my mother’s frail hand in mine with tears rolling down my face and an eerie silence within my soul. I was trying to make sense of the last 24 hours. My mother had migrated to Houston after an early retirement at 5…
“We know this is true in our hearts and minds, but we also know it to be true in documentable terms. Studies have proven that strong, empathic engagement between doctors and their patients increases patients’ willingness to report symptoms and co…
The desire for human connection is so irrevocably and putatively a tenet of the human condition. The relationships we form with one another are quintessential in adding value to our lives and in fostering loving bonds. And the way we express this conne…
Although people think of medicine as a science—the facts reveal the diagnosis, the diagnosis dictates the treatment—most physicians acknowledge that medicine is as much an art as a science. It’s not like a simple math equation with one undeniably right…
“Even though prostate cancer patients are anxious to receive treatment, they still want to minimize their exposure to anyone outside their COVID bubble. One procedure that is especially attractive to our patients is focal therapy high intensity f…
Pain was simply the biggest discomfort he had during those last few days I cared for him. I had just transitioned onto the inpatient wards service, taking over the patient list from one of my colleagues. I received sign-out from her saying a patient ha…
Balding, pale as a ghost, thin and frail, a protruding swollen abdomen. She walks in slowly and unsteady, with her family in tow, and is shown to her exam room. I am the medical student working that day with a surgical oncology attendant, a behemoth in…
An excerpt from Love Is the Strongest Medicine: Notes from a Cancer Doctor on Connection, Creativity, and Compassion. For nearly two decades, I’ve been telling my oncology patients, with only a little irony, Welcome to your new normal. There’s no getti…
People who find themselves reaching for antacid several times a month, might consider reaching out to their doctor instead. Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), the same condition that causes heartburn, is also linked to a deadly form of esophageal …
There are endless life lessons to learn from people around us. Our friends’ opinions on what they think about a product, a certain cuisine, or how they view life not only gives us a glimpse of who they are, but also can impact our own views. As a docto…
