Stories Archives

The First Time

“KCE 357 to the Jerico Fire Department,” says the dispatch radio at our community’s volunteer fire department. I volunteer here as both an emergency medical technician (EMT) and a chaplain; I’m also the full-time pastor of an Episcopal congregation.

“Ambulance needed at 45 Lilac Court for the unresponsive person, possible cardiac arrest.”

This is a high-priority call, albeit one that is common in our small town.

I hop into my car, equipped with an orange nylon “jump kit” of medical supplies, and head for 45 Lilac Court, ready to begin treating the patient before the fire-department ambulance arrives.

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What If…?

5 Comments / Stories / Medha Palnati

During my first two years of medical school, the service-learning program I most enjoyed was Sickle Cell Superheroes. This program matches medical students with teenagers (or “kiddos,” as I like to call them) who are transitioning from pediatric to adult hematology for management of their sickle-cell disease.

My kiddo was Harry, and I absolutely adored him.

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“I Know You Don’t Want to Be Here…”

10 Comments / Stories / Deborah Pierce

It’s been an interesting year. Eight months after having a large kidney stone removed, I was diagnosed with very early stage cancer—small, low grade, etc. The treatment (surgery) would very likely cure the cancer. The specter of cancer meant that I found this surgery physically easier, but emotionally much harder.

The aftermath of the surgery was interesting in unexpected ways, too.

Six months after surgery, at one of my periodic follow-up visits, I was sitting awkwardly at the end of the exam table, dressed in the standard patient gown and sheet, and waiting to see Becky, the nurse practitioner I’d been assigned to that day.

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Playing the Odds

21 Comments / Stories / Jef Gamblée

“The odds of anything going sideways are less than one in a hundred,” the cardiologist said.

I was only half listening—too busy signing the papers indemnifying the Medical Colossus against any undue outcomes from my pending cardiac catheterization and probable stent placement.

“Less than one in a hundred,” he repeated.

No problem, I thought.

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“I Fell Out of the Sky”

33 Comments / Stories / Victor Fornari

It had happened before; the previous time, it was a phone call on a Tuesday morning. This time, the message came by email on a Friday.

“Do you remember me?” wrote the sender.

“Do I remember you?” I wrote back. “I think of you often and fondly, although it has been over twenty-five years since we last spoke, and thirty-four years since we first met.”

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Finding Worthiness in Being Different

10 Comments / Stories / Gloria M. Gutierrez

Editor’s Note: This piece was awarded an honorable mention in the Pulse writing contest, “On Being Different.”

“What do you want to be when you grow up?”

The first time I was asked this question, it didn’t occur to me that my answer might not be matched by a corresponding opportunity. In the years since, I’ve learned that the question should have been “What will you be allowed to be?”

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Clean. Dry. Intact.

11 Comments / Stories / Rebecca Haddad

The bus is crowded today, and January sleet splashes against the windows. The damp of each of us thickens the air. I breathe in a miasma of germs and others’ breath. My scarf wets my face as the snow melts.

An eternity goes by before we reach the downtown stop. From here, I’ll take one more bus to get to the hospital where I work as a physician assistant on a team that treats infections involving blood vessels and the heart. I’m huddled an appropriate distance from the other commuters, my back to the wind.

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Tourette Syndrome

7 Comments / Stories / Joan Greland-Goldstein

Editor’s Note: This piece was a finalist in the Pulse writing contest, “On Being Different.”

“Hello. My name is Joan, and I have Tourette syndrome.”

This is my fantasy greeting when meeting people. It would give them notice that there’s something different about me—that I have a chronic neurological condition. It would alert them that I might make repetitive, annoying sounds, like clearing my throat or sniffing; or suddenly make a strange body movement, like flinging out my arm or jerking my head or shuddering. Not to mention the unexpected outbursts of irrational anger.

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The Art of Listening

9 Comments / Stories / Yaya

Reflecting on the start of my medical studies and career, I realize that it took me more than ten years to refine my ability to practice the art of listening. Partly that may have been because English is not my mother tongue; but it was also because listening is an arduous task. As Kate Murphy writes in her book You’re Not Listening: What You’re Missing & Why It Matters: “Understanding is the goal of listening, and it takes effort.”

My first hard lesson in this area occurred when I was a medical student, doing research at a needle-exchange program. A patient named Haris had been screened for HIV, and his test result was positive. He was the first patient to whom I had to give such bad news.

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Bread and Butter

6 Comments / Stories / Samantha L. Wood

Shattering the relative peace of an early Sunday morning, a chorus of assorted ringtones echoes through the emergency department where I work as an attending physician. The noise is a heads-up from an incoming ambulance, directed to the ED staff members’ portable phones.

I sigh and set down the cup of cafeteria coffee I’d been enjoying: The pace of the day is about to pick up. I unclip my phone from the waistband of my scrub pants. Sitting next to me, Ben, the senior resident, grabs his phone from the pocket of his fleece vest.

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Bea and Me

7 Comments / Stories / Katherine Roth

Editor’s Note: This piece was a finalist in the Pulse writing contest, “On Being Different.”

On the night Bea’s chest pain began—when the heaviness like a fist took her breath away, the beads of sweat gathering on her forehead—it frightened her, as it did not stop. She was alone, and as she reached for the phone, she paused. Who should she call?

The pain increased. She reluctantly dialed 911. She mumbled the answers to the operator and remembered to open her door before collapsing on the couch.

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The Wonder of Knees

14 Comments / Stories / Mark Liebenow

June 2020

I’ve put it off for as long as possible because replacing a knee is major surgery, and things can go sideways fast. Infection is #1 on my doctor’s list of concerns. Blood clots are #2, and I’ve heard stories of people who had clots travel to their lungs and died before they could get to an emergency room.

Pain is at the top of my list. My knee is now bone on bone, and I can’t limp all the way around a grocery store without packing it in.

The Wonder of Knees Read More »

fostering the humanistic practice of medicine publishing personal accounts of illness and healing encouraging health care advocacy

fostering the humanistic practice of medicine publishing personal accounts of illness and healing encouraging health care advocacy

Stories

The First Time

What If…?

“I Know You Don’t Want to Be Here…”

Playing the Odds

“I Fell Out of the Sky”

Finding Worthiness in Being Different

Clean. Dry. Intact.

Tourette Syndrome

The Art of Listening

Bread and Butter

Bea and Me

The Wonder of Knees

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fostering the humanistic practice of medicine publishing personal accounts of illness and healing encouraging health care advocacy

fostering the humanistic practice of medicine publishing personal accounts of illness and healing encouraging health care advocacy

Stories

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