Ebola
“If I get a call about smallpox from the ER I’m not coming in,” an Infectious Disease doctor said to a colleague in the hospital where I was working. It was the early days of 9/11 and anything seemed possible. “Are you all OK with providing care for Ebola patients?” our section chief asked. Our ICU is the … Continue reading
Code
“They need you in room 13” she said when I answered the phone and I ran back to the ICU. The patient was coding and for each minute that felt like an hour, we tried, and failed, to save her. She wasn’t breathing, her heart wasn’t working, and despite the 30 people gathered in the room, … Continue reading
The Weight of Words
“Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words can never harm me.” I learned this saying when I came to America, but before that, I learned a different story. A wood cutter got lost in the forest, it was getting dark and cold. He met a bear, who offered him to come to his … Continue reading
Gorilla Glue and Heartbreak
“My friend said to tell you everything when I come,” she says as she opens a little zippered bag full of flakes. “My teeth are falling out and I can’t afford a dentist, so I use Gorilla Glue to glue back the pieces,” she says. She was referred to me for severe asthma, but she … Continue reading
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