An excerpt from Mirth is God’s Medicine: Coping with Cancer as a Physician. “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” – Proverbs 27:17 In the coming weeks, after the biopsy returns positive for cancer — and …
Category: Oncology/Hematology
When constipation pain was worse than cancer pain
Coming in to meet the students, house staff, and patients for the first day on service always excites me. This Monday was no exception. What awaited me? How many patients would I need to see? What lessons could I impart? When I arrived, we had 11 patie…
MRI safety in breast cancer screening
The numbers are scary: The average woman has a 12 percent risk of developing breast cancer at some point in her life. For women with certain genetic mutations or risk factors, lifetime risk can climb to 85 percent. Even more terrifying than the numbers…
How this physician does her job while grieving
Two years ago, something happened that — not to be overly dramatic — changed my life, including my everyday experience of my job as an emergency specialist. My older brother, Martin died of a rare and aggressive form of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma tha…
Celebrities are bringing a myriad of health conditions into the public consciousness
It seems now as if every day and every month is associated with a “national day” or an “awareness month.” Some such as “national taco day” may be less important than others, well depending on one’s priorities….
This story happens every week in clinics like mine and it’s got to stop
Jeanette Brown had lost twenty pounds, and she was worried. “I’m not trying,” she told me at her regular diabetes visit as I pored over her lab results. What I saw sent a chill down my spine: A normal weight, diet controlled diabetic for many years, he…
The simplest and most important question to ask in the exam room
It was the first time the young woman had come to the health center in a suburb just north of Chicago. When the 26 year old walked into the exam room back in 2008. There was no paper chart or electronic health record (EHR) accompanying her, no backgrou…
Why would adult children disapprove of their parent’s happiness?
Going through the process of diagnosis, treatment decision making, and often lengthy treatment without a partner can be challenging. While children, friends, and other family members are supportive, for the single individual, there is no one to talk to…
Death through the eyes of a medical student
Growing up, I was discouraged from becoming a doctor; I was too emotional. My mother, a geriatrician, worried about my attachment to patients and the volatility of inpatient medicine. To some degree, I understood her concerns; I’m tearful during goodby…
MKSAP: 28-year-old woman with decreased exercise tolerance and ice cravings
Test your medicine knowledge with the MKSAP challenge, in partnership with the American College of Physicians. A 28-year-old woman is evaluated for decreased exercise tolerance and ice cravings for the past several weeks. Medical history is notable for…
