Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: Anika Khan

  • Gilgamesh and medicine’s quest to conquer death

    Anika KhanKarachi, Pakistan “O Uta-napishti, what should I do and where should I go?A thief has taken hold of my [flesh!]For there in my bed-chamber Death does abide,and wherever [I] turn, there too will be Death.”—From The Epic of Gilgamesh, The Standard Version, Tablet XI1 “O Uta-napishti, what should I do and where should I…

  • Locked-in syndrome: Inside the cocoon

    Anika KhanKarachi, Pakistan “…what will you carry back from this field trip into my endless solitude?”From The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby (1997) In December 1995, Jean-Dominique Bauby suffered a massive stroke that made him a prisoner in his own body.1 Within the space of a few hours, his hectic, animated existence…