Tag: Personal Narratives
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Each day is magnified
Ronald PiesSyracuse, New York and Boston, Massachusetts, United States This piece originally appeared in the August, 2010 issue of Healing Muse, a publication of the Center for Bioethics & Humanities at SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, New York Suddenly and inexplicably I discovered that I was anemic. My hemoglobin had run reliably in the 14-15…
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Sugar High and Low
Ruth DemingWillow Grove, Pennsylvania, United States On one of the hottest Augusts on record my daughter and I sat mopping our brows in the famous White Dog café. We had walked from Thirtieth Street Station in Philadelphia to this, our occasional meeting place. She was from Brooklyn and was my closest confidante. From my backpack,…
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On being a spousal caregiver
William BlackKnoxville, Tennessee, United States When I was 55 years old, and had been in the private practice of Internal Medicine and Nephrology for 22 years, my wife Barbara was diagnosed with breast cancer. At the time of her diagnosis she already had widespread bony metastases. Five weeks later, I came home one evening to…
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Children do not die
Matko MarusicCroatia Josip was just one of the boys who lived in our street, but to me he was and still is especially important. It was through him that I, for the first time, encountered an incurable disease; he was the first person I wanted to help, and was unable to. Later in my life,…
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Go to work on an egg
Liam FarrellCrossmaglen, Ireland “I’m worried,” said Joe, “I read in the paper that more than three eggs each week increases the risk of prostate cancer.” “The lay press is uninterested in hard facts and instead prefers attention-grabbing headlines,” I explained, “a problem compounded by researchers desperately looking for headlines to beef up their grants.” “But…
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The pastor’s son
Danielle OfriNew York City, New York, United States From Medicine in Translation: Journeys with My Patients, Copyright © 2010 Danielle Ofri. Reprinted by permission of Beacon Press, Boston. There was a sharp rap at the apartment door. When Samuel Chuks Nwanko opened it, he saw a young man standing in the hallway wearing a stained denim…
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A memorable patient
Biji KurienOklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States She was too quiet. Anyone would have thought she was dumb, but she did not care. As her doctor I did not either. I just wanted to help her. Her attractiveness did little to depreciate her poverty. She lived in a small house, dependent on others for survival. As…
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Learning compassion – learning forgiveness
Larry ZaroffCalifornia, United States I once made a technical error that injured a patient. An error of commission. Distressed, I wrote to several cardiac surgeons with whom I was acquainted through training or practice. I asked if they had made similar mistakes and how they were dealing with their mistakes. Were they embarrassed, ashamed? Did…