A few days ago, a teacher of mine who taught me Urdu in school contacted me after years. I remember her well; she was a very kind lady who cared for me a lot. I was one of her favorite students. At that time, she was married and had a daughter who was a toddler.
During a phone call, she told me that she had been experiencing a high-grade …
When the patient arrived by ambulance, he was frail, elderly, and alone in a hospital that spoke a language he could not understand. He had been transferred from a neighboring hospital across state lines due to concerns of malnutrition and pain. The initial CT scans were alarming—multiple lung masses, highly concerning for metastatic cancer. Yet, despite the grim prognosis, there were still barriers to giving him a definitive diagnosis, and …
When we think of cancer treatment, we often focus on the immediate goals: Shrinking tumors, stopping the spread of the disease, and ultimately aiming for a cure. What doesn’t get as much attention, but is just as important, is how cancer treatments can affect a patient’s sexual health and reproductive future.
Many cancer patients, particularly younger ones, are often left in the dark about how their treatment could impact their sexual …
I have felt anxious for most of my life.
Born into a poor family, my main goal has always been to become independent enough to support myself without needing to ask anyone for money to meet my basic necessities.
I witnessed my father frequently asking others for help whenever he faced significant challenges that his limited salary could not cover. For instance, he would reach out to people when it came time …
Cancer is a disease that demands long-term, resource-intensive treatment, posing an especially heavy burden in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). In nations like India, where a significant portion of the population comprises daily wage earners, farmers, and small shop owners living in villages, the challenges are even more pronounced. For these individuals, a cancer diagnosis can feel like a death sentence—not just due to the disease itself but because of …
I had two bunnies over a year ago. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a proper environment for them, just a large cage in the courtyard. During the day, they would roam freely, and I would lock them in the cage at night for their safety.
They were very dear to me. I talked to them, cuddled them, and let them eat whatever I ate. They loved eating from my hands. …
In the past 50 years, cancer in many cases has morphed from a certain death sentence into a chronic illness. However, cancer is unlike other chronic conditions. There are hundreds of different cancers, classified by where they start in the body and how their cells behave. To turn cancer from an acute, life-ending illness into a chronic one, we now understand that cancer must be treated with a targeted, personalized …
M has always been very close to me. She joined our hospital’s oncology department over ten years ago as a radiation technologist. Currently, she works as a medical physicist in our department and is the only female physicist in our hospital.
Her presence here is not due to luck or extraordinary circumstances; she has dedicated immense effort to her career. While many of her peers in the same position remain in …
Let’s begin by understanding the scope of the dementia problem: According to data from Alzheimer’s Disease International, before you finish reading this sentence, someone, somewhere in the world will have developed dementia. Here comes another sentence, and there goes another new case of dementia. There goes another. And so on.
In 2020, the organization estimated that more than fifty-five million people across the globe were suffering from dementia. What’s more, this …
Perhaps almost as important as our history-taking, our diagnosis, and our care of patients are the words we use to communicate that history-taking, that diagnosis, and that care.
Scenario one: the not so good
A while ago, I happened to witness a family hospital conference about their dad’s new diagnosis of cancer. There were ten family members present, all very devoted and concerned, though not particularly …
In clinical research, chart review is nearly as familiar as daily functions like walking or breathing. My days are full of identifying missing variables, finding them in the electronic medical records, then documenting them in my meticulously organized data sheets. However, during these chart reviews, my mind tries to find a way to break out of autopilot by looking for trends in the data. That’s how I recently noticed the …
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Physician executive Shamar Young discusses his article, “Geographic disparities in advanced cancer care: a call for innovation,” highlighting the uneven access to emerging cancer treatments across different health care systems. Shamar explores …
I was leaving the mall after purchasing a gift for a friend. Her birthday was the next day, and after spending hours searching for the perfect present, I finally bought an expensive wallet that I was sure she would love.
It was a chilly evening, and as soon as I left the mall, I immediately felt the real intensity of the cold. The heating system inside the mall had masked the …
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In 2023, Peggy, a vibrant 63-year-old woman, entered my life under the most challenging of circumstances. She was diagnosed with inv(3) acute myeloid leukemia (AML), an aggressive and relentless disease, and faced a grim prognosis. From our very first conversation, I knew Peggy was different. She exuded strength, determination, and an unyielding zest for life.
AML with inv(3) is a rare and particularly life-threatening subtype of acute leukemia associated with primary …
Breast cancer recovery is about more than survival—it’s about reclaiming a vibrant, fulfilling life. Instead of focusing solely on survivorship, we need to embrace what I call “livingship”: the journey of truly thriving after treatment. This approach focuses on ensuring patients not only survive but thrive in their cancer-free lives.
A personal journey in medicine
My path to becoming a breast cancer specialist was shaped by early aspirations and personal experiences with …
My mother has always been very close to me. I was her eldest daughter, born in an unfamiliar city where she had relocated as a newlywed bride. She didn’t have any family or friends in this unfamiliar city. I was practically her only friend.
My mother began sharing her problems with me when I was very young. Sometimes I think she shared too much. She also told me intimate details about …
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Arnold Eiser, an internal medicine physician and author, discusses his KevinMD article, “What Chadwick Boseman’s death reveals about cancer prevention and risk factors,” examining how environmental toxins and systemic health inequities shaped …
Even a half-century later, a physician cannot forget the first death of a patient under their care. It happened for me during my postgraduate medical training in the 1970s in an academic medical center hospital in the western half of the United States.
She was a delightful young married woman who was the mother of three small children. She was admitted to the hospital for recurring seizures. Her workup revealed a …
My mom won’t be home that weekend
Since it was a Sunday, I told my dad that I needed to wake up early for work, so he should wake me up in the morning.
My mom and dad have very different approaches to waking up their children.
My mom’s approach is more aggressive. She shouts at the top of her lungs, turns on the light, and snatches the quilt from us. Sometimes, she …
Every year, medical trainee hopefuls submit the dreaded personal statement. Most follow a familiar formula based on advice from mentors, peers, or online guides: “Don’t stick out,” “Tell a story about a patient,” and so on. While this approach isn’t wrong, it leaves little room for the “personal” aspect—the only part of the ERAS application that truly allows insight into the individual behind the resume. Before submitting mine, I was …
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