My mother. 63 years old. Colon cancer. She first noticed rectal bleeding. She made excuses. Maybe it’s hemorrhoids. She put her physician on a pedestal. He said, “You’re too young to die,” and there was no need for further tests…
Category: Oncology/Hematology
The curse of the excellent doctor
The reward for good work is always more work. The employer becomes dependent on the quality of work that you do because he knows that you, as a person, are a workaholic and perfectionist. You put your heart and soul into everything you do. No other emp…
Why minorities need more representation in breast cancer research
I’ve always been interested in democratizing health care and have tried to incorporate this in my image-guided therapeutics research. As a health care CEO, I’ve been afforded the opportunity to broaden my research scope and examine a personal area of i…
Evolution of targeted cancer therapies: a radiation oncologist’s perspective
On July 1, 1987, I started treating cancer patients as a full-time radiation oncologist – a cancer specialist who uses radiation therapy to help cancer patients beat their disease. Now, nearly 37 years later, I have the privilege of caring for cancer p…
Beyond safety whistles and pizza: On National Doctor’s Day and every day, physicians deserve humanity
Recently, on an average workday, my hand brushed against the small safety whistle clipped beside my ID badge. Most days, I don’t even remember the whistle is there, a “Happy Doctor’s Day” gift from a few years ago. I dutifully c…
From fear of loneliness to embracing solitude
Young children have different hobbies and preferences while playing in every part of the world. Some things are universal, but many are influenced by the culture of that specific area or the living conditions of that family. In the subcontinent, young …
A doctor’s journey: from student to healer, facing a mentor’s illness
I had a teacher in my third year of med school. His name was Dr. T. He taught us pediatrics. At that time, he was the head of the department of pediatrics in the busiest teaching hospital in our city, where I was working. Every day, hundreds of childre…
Inside the cancer waiting room where hope hangs in the balance
I sat there, frozen in time, full of fear, full of anxiety. Waiting for my time to “face the music,” but this wasn’t a dance party. My fellow patients, complete strangers, were seated about me, and each of us kept a safe distance apar…
The humorous essay that predicted today’s medical anxiety epidemic
In elementary school, we read an essay named ‘The Man Who Was a Hospital’ by Jerome K. Jerome. This is a humorous essay in which the writer describes his misadventure in a humorous way. He says that once, he was reading a liver pill circula…
Inside the heart of a hospital: love, loss, and resilience
“Airports have seen more sincere kisses than wedding halls and the walls of hospitals have heard more prayers than the walls of churches.” – Anonymous It’s 1 a.m. in the night. I am on call duty, which starts at 8:30 a.m. in the morni…
