“It’s just part of getting older.”
“Welcome to being a woman.”
“I hear this all the time from women. You just need to learn to deal with it.”
“Here’s a pill. See you in six months.”
“I have run all the labs I can think of. They are all normal. There’s nothing wrong. I’m sure it’s just stress.”
“It’s probably in your head.”
“There’s nothing I can do for you.”
Every doctor visit was the same. Each …
An excerpt from The Evening Hero.
This was apparently not to be a Yungman-only meeting. It was in their conference room, same one where had their monthly morbidity and mortality conferences, and it was packed with doctors. In fact, there was just one chair open, and Yungmans best friend Ken the …
Jumping on the recent TikTok trend of medical professionals sharing the things they would never do given their knowledge and expertise, I am sharing the five things I would never do as a board-certified allergist-immunologist.
1. I would never rely on a Primatene mist inhaler to treat my asthma or breathing symptoms alone. Primatene mist is a controversial over-the-counter epinephrine inhaler that can be used for mild intermittent asthma. This inhaler …
Suppose you’re getting ready to send your young adult off to college for the first time. In that case, you’ve likely been spending the summer getting college dorm and apartment essentials lined up: bedding, storage cubes, first aid kit, extension cords, dry erase board and other room necessities. But have you thought about what could happen should they get ensnarled in a health crisis away from home?
It’s a hard …
Primum non nocere. First, do no harm.
All doctors are familiar with this credo. From ancient precepts such as the Hippocratic Oath promising to abstain from doing harm to the modern bioethics principle of nonmaleficence, the calling of physicians involves striving to help alleviate suffering and avoid making it worse. In our increasingly complex health care and data environment, avoiding inadvertent harm can be more difficult than one might expect.
Five years ago, I met a patient that changed my view on practicing traditional medicine, especially when it comes to rheumatology. For years, I was proud to be in a booming field that provided patients with a new therapy every few years. As a physician and scientist, I believe that targeted therapy offers tools to treat patients like never before, but I have noticed that results vary over time.
Daniel was …
A hungry college student was on a plane flying to Italy. She was alone, as her parents had bought her a ticket to join them on the trip, but their own flight had been sold out. About an hour after take-off, the flight attendants came down the aisle with their carts to serve dinner. She chose the chicken and quickly ate the entire meal. It was Indian-style cuisine, an odd …
That health care in the United States is wildly expensive is beyond debate — but the actual numbers are almost beyond belief. In 2010, for example, health care costs amounted to $2.6-trillion. By 2020, those costs had risen to $4 trillion — an increase of more than 50%. Worse, such increases show no signs of slowing.
Health insurance premiums, out-of-pocket expenses, and direct government expenses all add up to a nearly …
We were reminiscing recently at a brunch we set up. It had been many years since we had seen each other. Eventually, we went our separate ways. But we reconnected once again.
Anna was one of our night shift nurses. She was bright and articulate. She eventually became a preceptor and mentor to many new ICU nurses.
The “night shifters” are on an island of their own. We form a special family, …
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I am a pretty private person and will only disclose information with a small few I trust. However, it has been five years since my second diagnosis with breast cancer, and I felt compelled to share my journey because I’ve made it a lot longer than I thought I would.
Every day for the rest of the month, I will share what I recall, what helped, and what didn’t. My only …
Here’s the story of a girl who got a comprehensive sex education and still chose abstinence. That girl was me.
Did I gain this knowledge from school? Heavens no. I grew up in the South at the turn of the 21st century. Abstinence-only sex education was the name of the game (still is, last I checked), especially in the school district I was in. Ironically (or maybe not so, in light …
5G and its related cell towers are still causing controversy around the U.S. Earlier this month, residents in Indiana and Nevada were against 5G cell towers being placed in their neighborhoods. In Charlotte County, Florida, one resident against the towers was concerned about his neighborhood being the guinea pigs of possible health implications caused by 5G. Before these complaints surfaced, 107 …
The first occurred when the ethics committee gathered to discuss one of the residents on the nursing wing. She was in the late stages of dementia and unable to speak. She had developed an ulcer on her foot, and the doctor recommended antibiotics and whirlpool treatments. These might prevent having her foot amputated.
Her health care agent with medical power of attorney was her daughter. She said that her mother had …
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It’s 4 a.m. when a 17-year-old awakens at home with severe left shoulder pain that his worried parents call 911. By the time he reaches the emergency room (ER), he has pain all the way to his wrist.
“Any recent injuries?” asks the doctor.
“Yeah, about three days ago, I was lifting about 200 pounds at the gym and noticed that my shoulder was really sore.”
When questioned further, he admits that he’d …
The headache wasn’t that bad. The fatigue was worse. I had slept about six hours total in the past three days. I was fortunate to have dutiful help from my husband and both grandmas, but I was still exhausted. Between breastfeeding, diaper changes, snuggling, trying to eat and maybe shower, adjusting to being thrust into the most important role in my life, feeling the joy and anxiety as only someone …
In an exciting recent study, researchers found that for adults with obesity, weight loss through bariatric surgery lowered their risk of cancer by 35% and reduced their risk of cancer-related death by 43%. This was true of both gastric bypass and gastric sleeve surgeries, and the results were observed ten years after patients’ procedures.
This is great news for people who have seen weight-loss success through bariatric surgery. The study …
It always makes my heart sink when the CPR guidelines change.
In 1980 I became a provider of advanced cardiovascular life support (ACLS) as certified by the American Heart Association. This was a great move. Through my internship and the many years that followed, it proved comforting to know that I would act decisively and with confidence in the setting of a cardiorespiratory arrest. The ACLS course dictated dogmatic protocols – …
When I was eight years old, I was a star soccer player on a state championship team. During shirts-off practice and while down at the local pool, I noticed how different my body was compared to my peers. After I referenced my scientifically approved human body anatomy book, most of my peers’ bodies looked just like the standard human body image in the book, with all the muscles developed …
Over 30 years ago, this man began working for our hospital system.
He was assigned to our ICU/CVICU units. Though some health care employees hadn’t even been born yet, Charles was a tried and true “lifer.”
He was our housekeeper. And he was our friend — our family.
He was a man with energy and stamina. He was a hard worker. Relentless. He could spin circles around a pack of 20-year-olds put together.
His …
The recent article by Danielle Crittenden, “The Danger of Fat Acceptance: The Average American Woman Is Now a Size 18” is more of the same perpetuation of our society’s deeply internalized diet culture, weight blaming, and shaming of the individual and collective pursuit of thin privilege.
The article was sent to me by a friend, but I didn’t need to read it because I’m so familiar with the …
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