by Jeremy Topin | May 9, 2017 | Medical, Medical Education
The patient in front of me is trying to die. Elderly and frail, he is lying in the bed. His ribs outlined under skin that should be smooth. His temples are concave where they should be flat. Both are an outward display of internal damage from his lung cancer. More...
by Jeremy Topin | Apr 26, 2017 | Medical
He sat next to the judge in the witness chair. Of medium height and build with a clean shaven head, he recalled the night in the hospital where he lost his dad, role model, grandfather to his newborn son and best friend. In the small courtroom he spoke directly to the...
by Jeremy Topin | Apr 19, 2017 | Medical
I pause in front of the door. On the other side, you all wait. A spouse, sons and daughters, sometimes with their own small children in tow. Today it’s your husband and father you have come for. Yesterday it was someone else’s mother. You have come from near and...
by Jeremy Topin | Mar 22, 2017 | Balance
There you are, in the big chair, half curled and snuggled up against me. A tangled clump of hair covers part of your face. You’re somewhere between wake and sleep listening to Goodnight Moon and my made up stories of butterflies and rainbow fish. You are warmth to my...
by Jeremy Topin | Feb 28, 2017 | Balance, Medical, Medical Education
What do you do when you know someone is going to die? I’m not talking about death when it comes at the end of a long protracted illness or a terminal diagnosis. Or the final act at the end of a “good” life, when the body and mind have ultimately...
