Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: veterans

  • Article 99: Saving money versus saving lives

    Howard Fischer Uppsala, Sweden   A U.S. Marine Corps helicopter transporting wounded during “Operation Urgent Fury”, the U.S. invasion of Grenada in October 1983. photographer: TSgt. M. J. Creen, USMC. Via Wikimedia. Public domain. “There are some patients we cannot help; there are none who we cannot harm.” —Arthur Bloomfield, M.D.   Article 99 is…

  • Prisoners on leave: Vietnam veterans and the Golden Age Western

    Edward Harvey Missoula, Montana, United States “I think we all died a little in that damn war.”—The Outlaw Josey Wales “So…what have you been up to?” When screening combat Vietnam veterans for post-traumatic stress disorder, I will often ask them about their hobbies or interests, since PTSD often manifests as an inability to find pleasure in…

  • Letting go of logic

    Nimisha BajajColumbus, Ohio, United States “He’s here for aspiration pneumonia. He doesn’t want a G-tube even though we tried to explain to him that if he continues to eat and drink by mouth, this will keep happening and he will eventually die from it. Can you come down and see him?” The palliative care fellow,…

  • An act of cowardice

    Michael ShenIndianapolis, Indiana, United States In autumn, the leaves turn yellow and die. The cirrhotics in the unit do the same. Their path already charted, their lives like leaves in the wind, we carried them as long as we could. We poked and drained and filled, knowing that nothing would change the inevitable. Like leaves,…

  • Mainstreaming acupuncture in Chicago

    Frank YurasekChicago, Illinois, United States For sixteen years I drove seventy-eight miles round-trip to stick needles in addicts, alcoholics, violent offenders, and homeless women. I practiced acupuncture with vulnerable communities around Chicago and southern Wisconsin even though it was not considered mainstream in our culture. I knew it to be an important tool in the…