mementomori
Posts by this author
November 28, 2006
[Editor's note: the narrator hosted a large family gathering over Thanksgiving and apologizes for posting The Sunday Poem on Tuesday. He also is looking for ways to disguise reheated leftovers from his children, alas, to no avail.]
Wilfred Owen will forever be known as the most acclaimed poet who…
November 27, 2006
Since I know I'm not the only poor soul swamped with post-Thanksgiving chores and Rodin-like cogitations I offer some brief headlines for perusal by those interested in the status of health on Mothership Earth.
Smokers At Greater Risk of Alcohol-Use Disorders
Adolescent smokers appear to have a…
November 23, 2006
Wishing you all the blessings of family, work, friendship, faith and most of all good health. If I may I'd like to show you a piece from one of my favorite artists - Daniel Garber (1880-1958). For more information about this leading member of the "Pennsylvania Impressionists" click on the link.…
November 20, 2006
If you are interested in stem cell research, the biology of cancer cells or promising new targets for anti-cancer therapy, today is your lucky day. Two new studies, one from Italy and one from Canada, both report an astonishing finding: human colon tumors contain cancer stem cells that not only…
November 19, 2006
[Editor's note: The narrator has been begging me for months to let him post some poetry on this site, using the argument that unless we promote the world's greatest poems, the collective I.Q. of this country is going to drop to the level of people who buy books by O. J. Simpson. Out of respect…
November 18, 2006
The following questions are for women only:
1. Have you had a pap smear done this year?
2. Do you smoke cigarettes?
3. Do you know if you are infected with HPV-16 (human papillomavirus type 16)?
If you answered "no" to #1 - see your doctor, please. If you answered "yes" to #2 - click on this…
November 15, 2006
I think there be six Richmonds in the field;
Five have I slain to-day instead of him.
A horse! a horse! my kingdom for a horse!
-William Shakespeare, Richard III
Optatio: expressing a wish, typically with earnest (if not fervent) desire.
The situation was disturbing, to say the least. After being…
November 14, 2006
As the delightful wag James Taranto over at OpinionJournal.com would say, "What would we find without studies?"
"Breast Cancer Risk Linked To Red Meat, Study Finds"
Younger women who regularly eat red meat appear to face an increased risk for a common form of breast cancer, according to a large,…
November 10, 2006
Prologue: Deep within a middle-aged woman, somewhere betwixt her brain and heart a microscopic sentry scans a vast network of blood vessels, monitoring the flow of red corpuscles like a forest ranger looking for smoke. He has a worried look on his face. The number of cells passing by his station…
November 9, 2006
"Honey, what did you do with Mommy's lighter? Sweetie? Give it back to Mommy."
A new British study shows that children exposed to second-hand smoke have a 40% increase in the risk of developing bladder cancer in adulthood:
A team, partly funded by Cancer Research UK say their study into the link…
November 7, 2006
Children and teenagers in the US are getting fatter stomachs, putting them at increased risk of developing heart disease and diabetes, say researchers. They found the belly fat of children and teens had increased by more than 65 per cent since the 1990s - directly in line with rising obesity rates…
November 6, 2006
But at my back I always hear
Time's winged chariot hurrying near;
-Andrew Marvell, "To his Coy Mistress"
Exactly seven days ago I walked into Exam Room Number 3 and happened upon a woman in distress. Her symptoms, physical findings and laboratory abnormalities suggested to me that she had…
November 3, 2006
Do you get a feeling of relief whenever you see an anti-smoking advertisement directed toward teenagers? If you do you may want to sit down. Now there is a freshly published study out of Australia that concludes the following:
Exposure to tobacco company youth-targeted smoking prevention…
November 2, 2006
[This is one of a continuing series...]
While visiting with a patient last week we reached that awkward point in a conversation where both parties have exhausted their supply of neighborly small talk. As I stood up I really couldn't think of any other issues to discuss. The patient's problem, as…
October 30, 2006
[Editor's note - I hereby declare that I am not responsible for any and all acts that the C. O. may commit tomorrow night. Since he was indeed born on the last day of October he tends to get creepy on All Hallow's Eve. The rest of the year he's just plain weird.]
Before I return to official…
October 29, 2006
This may sound silly but I believe you aren't a true fan of Hallowe'en unless you stay up really late, turn out all the nights except one, plop yourself down into an old chair right next to a window - preferably one straining to hold back a wailing wind, and read one of the most famous horror…
October 28, 2006
Just in case you were wondering what we were up to last night...
(with apologies to all Tiger fans...even Orac)
October 27, 2006
...that Afarensis and I happen to reside in the city where little birds will strike holy terror in the minds of lowly tigers on this Friday night.
Ahem...Go Cards!
October 26, 2006
Once upon a time I was caring for a nice man who was dying in a simply awful way from a cancer that seemed to revel in the act of slowly grinding his body into dust. In order to relieve his suffering the hospital staff gave him narcotics and sedatives intravenously. My job was to make sure that…
October 25, 2006
The season in which cancer is diagnosed appears to affect survival, as does sunlight exposure to some extent, according to a study published in the October issue of the International Journal of Cancer.
Talk about not having any control over your health - not only do some of us get cancer, but now…
October 23, 2006
[Editor's note: No, you didn't miss the first 23 rules - the narrator is simply tossing them off as they materialize during the course of his normal work day. Speaking of working stiffs, unless he wins the lottery the C.O. will have more examples for you in due time]
In honor of all the doctors…
October 19, 2006
Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
-William Blake (1757-1827), The Tyger
Assonance: identity or similarity in sound between internal vowels in neighboring words.Alliteration: repetition of initial consonant sound.…
October 18, 2006
O for a beaker full of the warm South,
Full of the true, the blushful Hippocrene,
With beaded bubbles winking at the brim,
And purple-stained mouth;
John Keats, "Ode to a Nightingale"
"Grape seeds may help attack colon tumors"
A new study shows that feeding colorectal…
October 16, 2006
Inquiring minds want to know! Well, at least this inquiring mind wanted to find out just how much of a capitalist he really is, so I took this quickie test. I was surprised at the results, but in reality I shouldn't be. I suspect most doctors who love their work are not 100% capitalists. How…
October 15, 2006
To jaw-jaw is always better than to war-war.
Sir Winston Churchill, 1954
No one can read the writings or speeches of Churchill and not admire his mastery of classic rhetorical terms. Churchill, who was trained in rhetoric in school, used such memorable figures throughout his adult life. For…
October 11, 2006
I've said it before and I'll say it again - in fact I just said it to a patient of mine who came in for his ten-year checkup after battling one of the nastier cancers coiled in the soft, verdant field we call "life." (He's cured now, thank God.) He expressed dire unhappiness with his weight, so I…
October 9, 2006
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
Robert Frost, The Road Not Taken, 1915
Last week I had the unpleasant task of informing a patient that his chemotherapy was no longer working. It was obvious that numerous new nodules had appeared on a follow-up CT scan;…
October 6, 2006
My, but the folks who think up names for pharmaceuticals have been busy lately! Here is just one example of a new compound from the promising world of translational research and now approved for usage. Just please don't ask me to pronounce it - I said it fast three times last night and conjured…
October 4, 2006
As a medical oncologist I'm not particularly a fan of cigarette smoking. In fact I have been known to try to coerce people to cease and desist from the smelly habit. Because of the siren song of nicotine and its addictive properties, however, I realize that many smokers are both mentally and…
October 1, 2006
[Editor's Note: In honor of the first day of October (and by request) here is a brief essay first posted the C.O. in 2004. In honor of the practice of improving one's prose, I've asked him to re-write the thing, to which he has grudgingly agreed to.]
Last weekend I got off the couch and took a…