“You have the good cancer.” These are the most common words that spill out of providers’ mouths to patients just being diagnosed with papillary thyroid cancer. However, this statement does not make this diagnosis any easier to compreh…
Category Archive: KevinMD
For me, COVID has a face
I’ve moved recently, and in the process of moving, invariably, one discovers old items. This had gotten shelved in the fracas of those years, work changed overnight, changing employers, moving. However, in a discussion with a close friend today, …
What anticipatory grief feels like [PODCAST]
Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Catch up on old episodes! “I experienced many deaths when I was a nurse, from babies, kids, young adults, the elderly, and my own family. It was always heartbreaking, but I found that staying with the dying an…
Has medicine lost its why?
From the halls of ancient Greece to the heights of television screens, the myth that the physician is more god than mortal has stood the test of time. As such, we are held to moral and superhuman standards no matter how tough things get. And thanks to …
It’s called crying and it’s normal
Doctors treat people in all types of situations. Life or death. Sometimes both. Babies die, children die, and teenagers die. Women die. Men die. Sometimes you even have the misfortune of delivering a stillborn. Everyone experiences death, but for docto…
Don’t lie about medical errors. Apologize.
Time of death: unknown. It was around 6 p.m. on April 21, 2013. My mom saw my grandfather dying slowly in the hospital bed. She had pressed the nurse call button frantically over the last 20 minutes. She rushed to the nurse station only to find out nob…
Opioid-free orthopedic surgery [PODCAST]
Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Catch up on old episodes! “How do we manage this? All patients meet with the physical therapist before surgery and within two days after surgery. They use transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) bef…
Opioid-free orthopedic surgery [PODCAST]
Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Catch up on old episodes! “How do we manage this? All patients meet with the physical therapist before surgery and within two days after surgery. They use transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) bef…
The impact of hand surgery on human identity and expression
One weekend, while taking hand trauma call, we received a pre-arrival page about an incoming patient, a plastic surgeon, who had injured himself while moving a glass table. The information we received was devastating — a wrist laceration through the me…
A holiday wish for lung cancer screening
In November, Mariah Carey defrosts for another holiday season with her iconic tune, “All I Want For Christmas Is You,” and social media floods platforms with content about Black Friday and the holidays. November is also Lung Cancer Awarenes…
