A Place for Grief
It is September 19, 2022. I am one month into my first year of medical school,
A Turn for the Worse
My stomach had blown up like a basketball. The discomfort was like previous episodes of constipation I have had as a result of Parkinson’s. A week ago, I had asked a fellow Parkinson’s patient how he got diagnosed. He said he had ten years of constipation, which turns out can be a serious complication of …
Temporal Arteritis, Diagnosed Late
His hands move through the air, reaching. Out and then back again. The wrinkled fingers nearly touch, tremble, and move apart. It is a motion that could be mistaken for some kind of prayer, the wafting of incense nearer, to wreath his head. In the background are the shouts of college students at the bar, …
Space and a Half
“With fear, faith, and love, draw near.” This was sung before receiving
Peering Over the Edge
One Halloween in grade school, my parents solicited the help of my three
In the Shallows
My father was a professor of biology. His children were his first students. He
Wait – what’s my race?
On my first of many standardized exams, I remember being stumped by the question:
Web of Causation
Spiders are living in the bathtub
Cognitive Dissonance
I have to apologize.
The Pacific Pandemic
In remembrance of fifty-seven lives.
Paper Corpses
Tell us your life story.
It All Depends
I cannot for the life of me figure out or pretend to know what the clerk at
Headlights
“So, how did you get into medical school?”
This Cold
There is a strange immediacy to the feeling of being cold.
Letter from an MS3 to a brain-dead patient
I want to thank you for teaching my what it means to lead a life well lived.
Separation of Patient and Family
I grew up understanding the concept of separation of church and state,
Diabetic
As a young adult living with Type 1 diabetes, I have heard more misconceptions about diabetes than I care to remember.
Hope Springs Eternal
This piece is dedicated to my dear friend Maddie, who was diagnosed with Stage III Melanoma at the age of 23.
You Are Worth It
The library is cold and silent late on a Friday night and my body and mind are tired but,
The Unspoken Fraternity
Stephen was built like an ox, his broad frame barely squeezing into the
Day One
As I begin my first day as an intern in the ICU, a nurse I’ve never met greets me
Jannigje (Jean)
I wish I had known you.
Strange Gifts
DNA is the great cosmic irony. It is a catalogue of existence, containing all requisites for life.
Bear Lake
Exactly 5 years and 3 months since his death
On Being a Different Man
What does it mean to be a man?
