Stories

ICU story

Rites of Passage ID:  50 year old man with hairy cell leukemia transferred to ICU for treatment of pneumonia.  Lives with wife and two daughters.   Works as CEO of  bank.          Mr. Goshen is wheeled into the Intensive Care Unit.  His skeletal body is encased in thin yellowish skin,  draped with white sheets.   With […]

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GI ward

A Golden Haze ID :  63 year-old female. Retired pediatric rheumatologist. Chronic hepatic cirrhosis associated with long history of alcoholism. Presents with ascites.  Lives alone.             Dr. Reddy is here because her belly is full of fluid. Her liver, fatigued  by the wear and tear of decades of whiskey sours, can […]

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GI Ward, ICU, Family Room revisited

Body Bag ID: 59 year old woman with no past medical history presents with Budd-Chiarri Syndrome. Lives with husband.  Works speech therapist. “Lea is here,” my Dad greets me, as I walk through the sliding glass doors, spitting me out of Customs.  “She’s with Geoff, over there.”  He points to a crowd next to the baggage […]

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A Night On-Call

Hiccups                         ID :   22 y/o woman, living with parents.  History of migraine headaches. Unemployed.  Accompanied by parents.             3:38am says the red LED display of the alarm clock at my head.  I have just wandered out of the concrete shower cubicle attached to my room, and am poised to descend into my bed.  […]

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A Day among Surgeons

                                                             Plastic Man          ID:  53 year old man with no past medical history presents with  large scalp basal cell carcinoma.   Lives alone in apartment.  Works as custodian.          My cat’s ginger paw caresses my cheek to rouse me for her breakfast. The red digits of my bedside clock read 4:53.          I reach to […]

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