Happiness in this World » Health

The Right To Die

Alex Lickerman — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 22:00:58 +0000

Photo: rjhuttondfw

The notion that dying is a right seems nonsensical to argue: death is given to all of us equally without the need of anyone’s sanction. The right to die well, on the other hand—well, that’s another matter entirely. A good death is, in many cases, something our fellow human beings have [...]

One Event, Two Stories

Alex Lickerman — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 22:00:54 +0000

Photo: Kal111

I recently had a patient of mine undergo surgery to remove his gallbladder due to acute cholecystitis. He’d been out to dinner with some friends and had started to feel nauseated, then developed some right upper quadrant abdominal pain that necessitated ending the evening early. After a sleepless night, a morning [...]

End-Of-Life Discussions

Alex Lickerman — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 22:00:29 +0000

Photo: 28misguidedsouls

When I was a resident working in the intensive care unit (the ICU) at the University of Iowa, one of my responsibilities was to communicate with the family members of my patients. However, an intensive care unit, as its name suggests, is an intensely busy place, and I often observed among [...]

Why We Shouldn’t Decide Ourselves When We Need Medical Attention

Alex Lickerman — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 22:00:00 +0000

Photo: stars alive

Four years ago, I was driving home from work when I began to experience mild chest pain. It was located slightly to the right of my sternum and felt like a muscle strain. My chest was slightly tender when I pressed on it, but so slightly that I felt unsure [...]

Knowing When To Stop

Alex Lickerman — Sun, 05 Jun 2011 23:00:53 +0000

Photo: Nicholas_T

“When do we stop?” my patient’s son asked me.

“That’s really hard to know,” I answered.

We were discussing when to stop making interventions in hopes of trying to save his father’s life. He’d been diagnosed with a severe gastrointestinal bleed from a stomach ulcer. Though most bleeding of this kind [...]