Lyrical
mementomori | July 15, 2006[Editor's note: this essay is adapted from a post first written on December 16, 2004)
The most influential mentor I ever had, who taught me how to chase and capture excellence in all aspects of patient care, and why giving one's best is the only goal worth pursuing in medicine, once told me that he had discovered a way to measure the merit of a doctor. He said, "Good doctors leave good tracks," by which he meant that one can always identify exceptional physicians by the "trail" of evidence they leave behind after their work is done - a ship's wake, if you will, that represents the effect…
mementomori | July 11, 2006Did you ever have one of those months where it seems that every time you finish up for the day another pile of work suddenly appears before you? That's what my July has been like. I can't seem to get my patients taken care of before another voice in the wilderness cries out for help. It reminds me of raking leaves on a Saturday in October when a sudden gust of wind scatters the pile across the yard and shakes the tree limbs, raining a thousand more golden stars down on one's head. Sometimes one needs the élan of a pontiff in order to make it through a typical day tending to the ailments…
mementomori | July 2, 2006For some people Fourth of July weekend in the country is a respite from cancer, a chance to stroll around the hot fields and lean over the green swirl of the river as it pushes itself downstream like Sisyphus straining against his rock, never stopping to rest against the shore.
What is it about standing beneath shady leaves, or watching miniature frogs leap into the water that erases memories of suffering?
I find myself almost trying to answer this question when suddenly I see the towering oak tree next to my cottage and am reminded once again of the fight against the pestilence of cancer.…
mementomori | June 27, 2006Last week my partners and I met with a health care system executive charged with designing a brand new hospital to be built over the next two years, right here in suburban St. Louis. Mirabile dictu, the new place will include a new cancer center. For those not familiar with the art and science of medical oncology, to find out that your hospital is being replaced with shining new multi-million dollar building is like being promoted from running a hot dog stand to the kitchens of Alain Ducasse.
As we looked over the plans I was struck with a sudden epiphany that tore me away from the banausic…
mementomori | June 20, 2006"Science is all metaphor." -Timothy Leary
I like to use analogies when counseling my patients. By phrasing medical situations or goals in language that creates a vivid picture I believe it helps patients to understand what exactly is happening to them, or what is the goal of treatment. Picturesque metaphors in my opinion are excellent teaching tools that leave a lasting impression whether it be on patients, family members or students.
Lately for some reason I've been handing out analogies like a slot machine with three 7s showing on it. Divine afflatus seems to have temporarily left the…
mementomori | June 12, 2006"The farther backward you can look, the farther forward you are likely to see." -Winston Churchill
Other than those esoteric gentlemen (or is it gentlepersons?) whose job it is to dispatch robust but morally askew, to say the least, prisoners to the shores of the river Styx (by way of the needle and the damage done, if you know what I mean), is there any other career more displeasing than that of the medical oncologist?
Not that we don't get a frisson of delight whenever the towering monstrosity named Cancer keels over after a relentless chemotherapy attack and crashes to Earth, never to…