Patient Advocacy:
Telling a patient "You are dying" pays no respect to the tremendous amount of hard work the patient has put into the
mind, into developing and maintaining a hopeful and courageous attitude during his or her illness.
Posted on January 24, 2008 12:59 PM • 27 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Patients should not feel ashamed to express feelings of distress, which can often be assuaged with a few words of kindness and encouragement.
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Posted on January 8, 2008 7:04 PM • 6 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
If you are an athlete or are just committed to exercising regularly, no matter what your age is, what do you do if your doctor tells you to stop it?
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Posted on January 5, 2008 7:03 AM • 4 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
...as these secrets are transformed into promising medicines, the irony of the uninsured patient hangs in the air like the stench from a rotting carcass.
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Posted on December 20, 2007 9:07 AM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
The irony in these two stories is enough to make a doc quit his practice and get a job advising people on why they are better off dead.
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Posted on December 12, 2007 9:05 PM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Why would cancer specialists agree to give induction chemotherapy for acute myelogenous leukemia to a patient whom they knew could not survive the treatment?
Posted on December 2, 2007 8:41 PM • 10 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Doctors constantly have to make decisions that reflect their intelligence and judgment, but sometimes they are faced with a decision that tests their personality. Here's an example: "Should I (a) let this patient continue to ramble on, further delaying the...
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Posted on October 5, 2007 1:16 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
In 18 years of practice I have never seen a death from an overdose of narcotics. This is the difference between taking narcotics for cancer-related pain compared to a headache.
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Posted on September 13, 2007 8:12 PM • 5 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
"Listen, your job is to tell the patient what the deal is, okay? Leave the inspriational stuff to the Padre."
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Posted on September 6, 2007 3:03 PM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
I honestly don't know how any living human being could ever be proud of earning the right to have the following epitaph carved on their headstone:
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Posted on July 16, 2007 2:39 PM • 7 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
If doctors want to pontificate on how wonderful they are they should seek out the one admirer who will always listen with puerile delight.
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Posted on June 27, 2007 2:30 PM • 7 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
What's the difference between a plastic surgeon and an oncologist?...
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Posted on June 11, 2007 8:24 PM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
No software program, central planning committee or even nationalization of the health care industry will ever reassure patients that the danger is over.
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Posted on May 10, 2007 7:45 PM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
The following day she was told that she had received a lethal dose of chemotherapy. She died 22 days later when artificial life-support was withdrawn.
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Posted on May 9, 2007 9:51 AM • 10 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Even though your body is healed, there is a part of you still thrashing about in the chaos and dread that comes with this disease. I want you to know that although this is distressing it is a natural part of recovery.
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Posted on April 21, 2007 6:08 PM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Asking myself, "What is behind the mask I see before me?", I thought I sensed that something and tried to put it into words. This is what tumbled forth:
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Posted on April 3, 2007 9:11 PM • 9 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
I ask you to carry on now, carry on with courage and determination until your work is completed and you can rest in confidence.
Posted on March 17, 2007 7:52 PM • 7 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
At the risk of sounding like an expert in intercessory prayer, which I am not, here is my conclusion:
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Posted on March 15, 2007 6:49 PM • 12 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
In this age of technological and biological miracles one might conclude that a doctor's repertoire of interpersonal skills - demeanor, empathy, compassion, equanimity, mastery of communication - are mere lagniappes.
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Posted on February 19, 2007 4:41 PM • 9 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Doctors must continuously monitor themselves for the signs of irritation, frustration or whatever form stress comes to haunt them.
Posted on February 4, 2007 9:10 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
If you are a distributor of a hair-restoring tonic (not sold in stores) and assiduously push it on your customers whether they need it or not...
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Posted on February 1, 2007 8:20 AM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
I'm referring to the bizarre phenomenom of doctors who look upon certain illnesses as unworthy of the time, effort and expense involved in fighting them.
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Posted on January 29, 2007 8:43 PM • 7 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Physicians harboring personality quirks, undiagnosed neuroses or simply bad attitudes may fail in their mission...
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Posted on January 28, 2007 8:32 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Other days, though, Mount Olympus sends a thunderbolt or two down just to remind them that doctors are only doctors when they doctor - not when they ignore their responsibilities.
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Posted on January 27, 2007 11:44 AM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
As a fellow mucker who is doing his best to use the heavens for inspiration I offer my own list of five deadly sins doctors should avoid at all costs.
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Posted on January 25, 2007 8:16 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Only a nihilist would refuse to acknowledge that we are living longer and healthier lives with the help of modern medical drugs and treatments. Of course the nihilist has a secret weapon in his argument: the death rate is 100% on this planet and will always be 100% until the last upstanding citizen of Earth croaks.
Posted on January 2, 2007 8:38 PM • 7 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
These are just some of the reasons why physicians must fight feelings of awkwardness and embarrassment, why they must risk the wrath of unhappy family members, why they must find a way to broach the subject of the end of life without destroying their patients' humanity.
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Posted on December 26, 2006 2:49 PM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
She was weak, nauseated and showing unmistakable signs of failing nutrition - observations that make oncologists' stomachs roil with uncomfortable thoughts.
Posted on November 6, 2006 8:14 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
"No one knows how long you can keep up this work, but this is your task; I guess I would call it a monumental task to build a monument to yourself, so that the world can see your strength and glory in the face of a despicable illness."
Posted on November 2, 2006 3:10 PM • 4 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
I pity the fool who never bothered to learn the art of equanimity when encountering such temptations as a professional caregiver reeking of disregard and stupidity.
Posted on October 26, 2006 7:55 PM • 4 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
[Editor's note: No, you didn't miss the first 23 rules - the narrator is simply tossing them off as they materialize during the course of his normal work day. Speaking of working stiffs, unless he wins the lottery the C.O....
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Posted on October 23, 2006 3:58 PM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
I defy anyone to find a well-conducted clinical study that shows that exercise is harmful to cancer patients, not to mention the rest of us paunchy, pudgy, roly-poly porkers who ought to be out there right now marching the dog across the hills and dales of the nearest park.
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Posted on October 11, 2006 12:52 PM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
"The hateful patient can ruin your ability to practice good medicine and cannot be ignored. Whenever you meet him or her you must be brave and honest, and overcome the hatred no matter what it takes."
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Posted on September 18, 2006 3:37 PM • 15 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
I am amazed when I hear again and again that a doctor "didn't say much" about a patient's recent diagnosis. Is the physician really ignorant or too busy to educate the patient, or is the subject bypassed because he or she has nothing encouraging to say?
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Posted on September 10, 2006 4:43 PM • 12 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
