When patient's are diagnosed with cancer, I often hear: "I'm OK with it." "I've accepted it." "I'm going to fight this." "God will pull me through." In the middle of the fight, no matter if it's going well or not, I often hear the following phrases: "I'm tired but I'll be ok." "The pain meds …
Month: August 2020
Prayer Works, Part 3
She spent most of her days overwhelmed with fatigue. She spent a lot of days vomiting. She spent a lot of days traveling to her doc’s office for radiation. She spent two years with breast cancer. I spent time with this patient for two years. I spent our visits smiling with her. I spent our …
Prayer Works, Part 2
The taste of liquid metal. Such an odd taste. Distinct. Strong. Almost tangy. A fizzle in her nose. A small gush of water escaped her right nostril. Then came the tangy metallic taste in her mouth. She hunched forward and cusped her hands below her nose to catch the waterfall of blood. “No, it can’t …
Prayer Works
“ Your diabetes is very uncontrolled.” I looked at this sweet elderly patient of mine. “ I’m not worried about it. God‘s got me.” The patient smiled and looked me squarely in the eyes. “ I agree that God has you but maybe He put me in your life to help with your medical needs.” …
The Who, What, When, Where, and Why of COVID-19 testing.
When COVID-19 was claimed a pandemic in March of 2020, we were pretty strict about testing patients. Patients had to have specific symptoms and fit specific other criteria for us to even consider using a test. Part of that is because we knew very little about the virus and its symptoms. It was also because …
Continue reading The Who, What, When, Where, and Why of COVID-19 testing.
“I’m so embarrassed!”
From head to toe, we're going to discuss a few topics that my patients have felt are "embarrassing" to talk about. Black Eye: A lot of people are embarrassed by this more so because of how they received the black eye and not actually because of the black eye itself. Sure, I'm going to ask …
A Symphony During A Pandemic
"Sometimes it's hard to breathe. All these thoughts are shoutin' me. Try to bring me to my knees. And it's overwhelming. Darkness echoes all around. Feels like everything is crashing down." When I discovered a child abuse case a few years back, I found it hard to breathe. The x-ray was shouting at me. The …