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Posted by Alex Lickerman  Print  Email to a friend  Photo: Beverly & Pack What’s the worst problem you have right now? Have you lost your home? Your job? Are you worried you might? Have you watched your savings diminish before your eyes as I have mine? Or are you facing a terrible illness?
From the Buddhist perspective, all people are endowed with the innate ability to create value out of any situation, no matter how awful or tragic. Unlike the idea that every cloud has a silver lining—that something positive can always be found in everything negative—the principle of changing poison into medicine explains that we can transform even the most horrific tragedy into the very thing we need to become happier than we currently are. Continue reading…
Posted by Alex Lickerman Print Email to a friend  Photo: alxbrn I remember when I first read the pathology report on my patient, Mr. Jackson (not his real name), my stomach flip-flopped. “Adenocarcinoma of the pancreas” it said. A week later, a CT scan revealed the cancer had already spread to his liver. Two months after that, following six rounds of chemotherapy, around-the-clock morphine for pain, a deep vein thrombosis, and pneumococcal pneumonia, he was dead.
His wife called me to tell me he’d died at home. I told her how much I’d enjoyed taking care of him, and we shared some of our memories of him. At the end of the conversation I expressed my sympathies for her loss, as I always do in these situations.
There was a brief pause. “It just happened so fast…” she said then and sniffled, her voice breaking, and I realized she’d been crying during our entire conversation. “I’m so sorry for your loss,” I told her again. She thanked me for caring for her husband and hung up. Continue reading…
Posted by Alex Lickerman Print Email to a friend  Photo: five2b4u My heart began pounding as I listened to the sound of the dial tone in my ear. After three rings a woman answered groggily and uncertainly, “H-hello?”
“Mrs. Peterson?” I asked. My voice trembled slightly. It was 2 a.m. and I’d awakened her from what I imagined had been a troubled sleep.
“Yes?”
“This is Dr. Lickerman. I’m calling from the hospital.” I paused. “I’m calling about your husband.”
There was silence. Then a breathless, “Yes?” Continue reading…
Posted by Alex Lickerman Print Email to a friend 
Years ago, at an academic hospital on the West coast, a physician friend of mine named Terry (not his real name) discovered, quite by accident, that a mutual friend of ours named Sean (not his real name), also a physician, was moonlighting. While moonlighting wasn’t illegal, it was in violation of the contract they’d signed with their employer. Terry asked Sean to stop, but Sean refused, arguing that it was no big deal and that it had nothing to do with Terry. Terry told Sean that if he didn’t stop, he’d report him to their employer. Sean told Terry that if he did that their relationship was certain to be damaged. “We work together every day,” Sean argued. “We need to get along.”
Several days later, after confirming with Sean that he’d not stopped moonlighting, Terry reported him. Their employer told Sean he had to stop moonlighting immediately. Continue reading…
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