“Death, be not proud, though some have called thee Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so”—John Donne On a Sunday in January, 2014, I opened the New York Times Opinion section and stumbled upon one of the most unusual essays I had ever read. It was written by Dr. Paul Kalanithi, who at the… Continue reading An Extraordinary Life
Tag: Lung Cancer
How Old is Too Old?
Yesterday I saw a 90 year old woman in consultation. She presented to the emergency room in September with abdominal pain, and in the process of working her up, a chest X-ray was taken which showed an infiltrate in her lingula, part of the left lower lobe of her lung. As it turned out, there… Continue reading How Old is Too Old?
Cold Roast Beef
Just when you thought I had finished talking about Thanksgiving, here it is again. A few weeks ago, between patients, I was catching up with other physicians’ blogs. Yes, readers, I have discovered that I am not the only one, nor am I the most articulate or humorous or erudite MD to put fingers to… Continue reading Cold Roast Beef
I am the Grocery Store Doctor
I hate supermarkets—those bright fluorescently lit mega-stores where you seem to walk for miles, filling your cart as you go while constantly rearranging the contents to avoid flattening of the perishable fruits and bread. There was a time ten years ago when the presence of three rapidly growing teenagers mandated the use of two carts… Continue reading I am the Grocery Store Doctor
Hunger Strike
The Q’s will not eat. My two female deerhound sisters, Queen and Quicksilver, aka Quibbets and Little Grey, are coming four years old in January. They are both AKC Grand Champions and as such, I have not spayed them yet, thinking that perhaps I will breed a litter, my first since my only prior litter… Continue reading Hunger Strike
Go Ahead Kids!
Okay, I confess. I have smoked a few cigarettes in my time. In fact, more than a few. While my teenaged brother was hiding his favorite smoking material in the Encyclopedia Britannica under the letter “M” (much to the horror of my mother, who decided she needed to read up on this new scourge called … Continue reading Go Ahead Kids!
Follow Up
My new resident started working today. He is the first radiation oncology resident to come to work in our facility, since the residency director felt that being out in the community was more like “real life”—I don’t have the luxury of treating only one or two types of cancer—out here in the suburbs I have… Continue reading Follow Up
Miracles Do Happen
Sometimes miracles do happen. In 1999, I was called for an emergency consultation on a young man in his early 40’s who had come into the emergency room. He had been involved in an automobile accident, and the police were trying to arrest him for drunk driving since he could not “walk the line”. His… Continue reading Miracles Do Happen