Test your medicine knowledge with the MKSAP challenge, in partnership with the American College of Physicians. A 28-year-old woman undergoes follow-up consultation regarding a pre-employment physical examination. She reports feeling well, with no recen…
As an oncologist, I have seen the devastating impact of being told one has cancer. The reaction I most often see among my patients is fear that they’ve been given a death sentence, an urgent need for a plan, and hope that they will survive. I often wan…
Storytelling is as old as humanity. In telling our stories, we share, learn, and ideally pass along wisdom. As Isak Dinesen once wrote, “To be a person is to have a story to tell.” This story starts with PW’s cancer diagnosis in 2009….
The couple that entered my office on a warm fall day seemed out of sorts. She looked nervous, and he looked irritated. Before he sat down I heard why he felt that way: “I don’t even know why we’re here.“ I explained briefly what my role is but this did…
The couple that entered my office on a warm fall day seemed out of sorts. She looked nervous, and he looked irritated. Before he sat down I heard why he felt that way: “I don’t even know why we’re here.“ I explained briefly what my role is but this did…
Test your medicine knowledge with the MKSAP challenge, in partnership with the American College of Physicians. A 65-year-old man is evaluated during a visit to establish care. He is interested in colorectal cancer screening; however, he adamantly refus…
Here’s some good news for a change about cancer: Cancer mortality — the rate of death from cancer — has fallen substantially over the last four decades. There is also, however, some not-so-good news: Cancer incidence — the rate of cancer diagnoses — ha…
When asking about a potentially overwhelming side-effect of an impending new medication, my nurse told me, “Don’t worry until you get there.” OK, I get it. I just didn’t die from breast cancer. I’ve had worse. But come on….
Medical treatment has knocked down tumors in 6-year-old Easton Daniels’ brain, but the drug used also wiped out his immune system. To bolster his immune function and help keep him healthy, he has visited a hospital for intravenous infusions of immune g…
I lay on my side while my father probed the space between my buttocks, looking for an opening in the incision. I was in bed in the guest room of my house, which had been converted into my room for the last two weeks while I recovered. My father, a surg…
