Moon
Justin Sanders
About the artist:
Justin Sanders trained as a family doctor and is now pursuing a career in palliative care. He and his wife live in Boston, preparing to welcome their first child into the world. Having studied art history and worked in the fine arts, he has a deep faith in their healing power. He is a Pulse author and serves as its visuals editor. When not frantically cleaning house in preparation for a baby, he loves to mess up recipes from a growing cookbook collection and to read The New Yorker.
About the artwork:
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Stained Marrow
Erin O’Branski
About the artist:
Erin O’Branski is a physician assistant practicing in hematology-oncology at the Duke Cancer Institute. She is also a continuing-education student at the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke. She is currently documenting art and beauty in everyday life in the hospital, a project which began as a way to process the pain and sadness associated with life-threatening diseases. Her recent short documentary Cancer Warriors can be seen at http://www.documentingmedicine.com/cancer-warriors/
About the artwork:
“After performing a bone-marrow biopsy, I accompanied the lab technician to the lab and photographed the process of
Lone Tree
Mary T. Shannon
About the artist:
I am a psychotherapist who specializes in using story and art as adjunctive treatment tools. Having used both of these tools in my own healing process, I am better able to guide others in doing the same. Additional visual art, as well as essays and academic journal articles on narrative medicine can be found on www.marytshannon.com.
About the artwork:
My husband and I solemnly walked by this scene the day before his surgery, silently holding hands. The surgery was risky, and we both knew he might not survive. I wondered if I would soon be like this tree, standing alone, and how I would survive on my own. A month later we
Tlingit Aspirin
Elaine Whitman
About the artist:
Elaine has been taking photographs since she was nine years old when her father, an internist and talented amateur photographer, gave her a Brownie box camera. She has worked her way through many cameras since that time and now relies on a pocket-sized Canon “point-and-shoot” and a Nikon D7000. (This image was taken with the Nikon.) In addition to her passion for photography, Elaine is also a music volunteer for hospice, where she plays her Native American flute for patients and their families.
About the artwork:
“On the eighth anniversary of my diagnosis of stage IIb breast cancer, and on our thirty-fifth wedding anniversary, my husband Neal and I celebrated my remission and our marriage with a cruise
Aeterna
Bernard Lapointe
About the artist:
Bernard Lapointe is a palliative-care physician in Montreal. “After a few years as a family physician, at the dawn of the AIDS epidemic in Montreal, I found my practice very rapidly transforming from a downtown STD practice to palliative care. I still remember, vividly, those years: the pain, the dynamic communities rising to the challenge, the creativity of the various artists fueling the fight. The slogan was ‘Silence = Death,’ and our voices did not allow for silence. Caring for the terminally ill year after year carries its price. The urge to live fully today, to expand beyond my limitations and