Relay for Life superhero theme 2017 The following post is an edited transcript of my speech given on 7/8/17 at the Relay for Life 2017, Clatsop County, OR. I am very excited by this year’s Relay for Life theme, “Who is your superhero?” I am excited because I get to work with real-life superheroes every…
Comments closedMy smile freezes on my face as my patient says to me, “I’m so glad you’re back – that I get to see Mrs. Lycette today!” He has been my patient for several years, and I’m perplexed to hear him address me as “Mrs.” rather than “Doctor.” At the same time, I really don’t think…
1 CommentI read a great post by oncologist Dr. Stephanie Graff on the experience of blame, from self and others, that people with cancer are subjected to. The talk about risk factors and early detection makes us think we can achieve perfection, and that cancer is somehow a personal fault…let us stop making accusations and blaming persons…
Comments closedOne morning not so long ago, I found myself sitting in my car in the parking lot of my clinic. Unable to will myself to open the door. I didn’t want to head in to the clinic that morning. Instead I was filled with despair; overwhelmed with the events of the world. How can I…
Comments closedIn appreciation of oncology nurses everywhere. In recognition of National Nurses Week: Thank you to oncology nurses for: staying behind in the room with patients and families after we deliver difficult news, not letting us shirk the tough questions, professionalism in the most difficult of circumstances, being partners in care, remembering what size gloves we wear,…
Comments closedThe term “compassion fatigue” might imply that physical fatigue leads to the loss of ability to feel compassion for others. After all, what physician hasn’t experienced running on too little reserve? Feeling some degree of emotional numbness? Many physicians may not realize, however, that compassion fatigue can go much deeper. Physicians and other health caregivers…
4 CommentsThe doctors’ office: an insider glimpse. (A facetious piece. Inspired my my kids’ love of Mad Libs) Directions (in case you were raised by wolves and never played Mad Libs): Play with a friend or colleague. Ask them to say a word for each type of word specified. Read the story using their words to…
Comments closed(published also online on 4/10/17 in The ASCO Post, under the title The Mystery of Grace. re-published here on my home blog with permission of the editor). The day after I told Nell she had seven metastases to her brain, she sent me flowers. She was my patient; I was her oncologist. I had met her…
3 Commentsupdated 3/17/19 A short story on the meaning of burnout. The return from a vacation weighed on me physically. This had been a true vacation – an entire week away spent with my family, away from clinic and the burden of care. I even managed to unplug to the point of only checking email on…
Comments closedThere is a shortage of doctors in rural community practice in the U.S. Medical oncology, is but one of many specialties where the shortage is especially glaring. In oncology, I think there is perhaps a fear of practicing outside the walls of a large tertiary center. Leaving the established framework and boundaries between the doctor…
Comments closed
