Tag Archives: Surgery
Pretty Good Flower
The night falls on my time alone. They are the same, the time, the night. I have I take I request I make I demand I require this time and because you know me I never get past “I have”… … Continue reading
This Climb Does Not End
If I had a Sunday morning off while I was a surgery resident, it felt like Christmas and my birthday every time. They did not come often. I worked over 100 hours/week and was on call either every third or … Continue reading
Last House
I took all the pictures in Guatemala with a small Leica digital camera at my waist. I assumed the camera saw about what I was seeing and fired hundreds of frames. Any street photographer uses this technique. Having a small … Continue reading
Mistakes
We had been in Guatemala a few days, walked the market a few times, set up the OR’s and been in the clinics; we were working hard by this time. The OR was full of cases. Three operating tables–they are … Continue reading
Doing Nothing To Get Somewhere
In an operation, sometimes, there are moments when I can’t turn back and I really can’t go forward. I have to wait and see. Doing more can be worse. Today, I used a surgical stapler to divide the blood supply … Continue reading
By and Bye
A man was put in prison in 2000 something, I don’t know why, didn’t ask. He was transferred to my surgical service. It goes like this: I get a page saying to call the transfer center at the hospital. It’s … Continue reading
No Beginning and No Ending
I am going to try to relate this to you in a way that does not sound contrived. It’s impossible. It is contrived. Contrived means that it was obviously planned. This, what I am telling you about, was, and yet … Continue reading
Landscape Photographer
Tonight I took an old woman back to the operating room because she had a bowel obstruction. Two things here: One: we are built like donuts and our donut hole does not tolerate a twist. Two: she had been to … Continue reading
1 2 3 4
During an operation, the pulse is counted on a the beeping machine in the background. 1 2 3 4. Normal is 60-80. A million things can change the pulse. My heart quickens when she walks by, for instance. During an … Continue reading
V.
I have on my desk a photo of the daughters (7, 12) of the 29 year old woman who I ordered the fatal dose of morphine for when the pain of her colon cancer rode up on her like the … Continue reading