Things suck right now. We have this scary new disease rampaging through the world. We don’t have a vaccine or treatment or any of the modern medical marvels on which we’ve all come to rely. We waited so long to respond to this threat that it has now overwhelmed us. And scared us. And inconvenienced… Continue reading Take a deep breath
Tag: medicine
I am not a soldier.
I do not know very much about the military. I do know that it is a favorite analogy of many, including my profession. We can all imagine the doctor issuing commands from the foot of a dying patient’s bed. Or a surgeon barking orders in the operating room as a patient bleeds on the table.… Continue reading I am not a soldier.
The True Cost of COVID-19
My primary job as a physician is to preserve life. It is not a war with death. There are no weapons or enemies or battlegrounds. My job is a negotiation with death. We sit together, death, the patient, and I, discussing, mediating, talking, crying. I take this part of my job seriously and I am… Continue reading The True Cost of COVID-19
Coronavirus for Dummies
No, I don’t think you’re dummies. In fact you’re probably the smart one. You probably didn’t waste over $200,000 on a medical degree. But you’re in luck! I did. There is a ton of information floating around about coronavirus. A lot of it is about necessary public health measures or the political response. Some of… Continue reading Coronavirus for Dummies
The Five Stages of my Personal Pandemic
Two weeks ago, I was talking all about how COVID-19 was just a bad version of the flu. We would all get it eventually, it would be fine, people should keep living their lives. I was wrong. I was in denial. Then, I moved on to anger. I was angry that my family decided to… Continue reading The Five Stages of my Personal Pandemic
Nobody asked me... 