July 05, 2008

Thula Mama

TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from those three worlds. Since then its scope has become ever broader.

The annual conference now brings together the world's most fascinating thinkers and doers, who are challenged to give the talk of their lives (in 18 minutes).

TED Global is a sister conference held every other year, and in a different country on each occasion. The first conference was held in Oxford, England, in 2005; the second, in June 2007, was held in Arusha, Tanzania. 

3_vm_2007_aaron_farrington85441 Thula Mama was written and performed by South African singer songwriter Vusi Mahlasela.  If you can spare ten minutes, you will appreciate this moving tribute to his grandmother which was sung at TED Global Arusha 2007.

July 01, 2008

The Student and the Patient

Honduras_2005_therese_kirsch_and_pa We are fortunate to have received an inspiring submission from Erin Mariano, a fourth year medical student at Florida State University.  Her moving piece underscores the saying, "It is sometimes more important to treat the patient who has the disease, than the disease the patient has." I am never sure if it was Osler or Peabody who said this; but Erin's fine vignette shows that this concept can be learned anew by those unfamiliar with bon mots.

"Beyond the Blue Drape"  describes Erin's  bonding with a patient while on a surgical rotation.  You can access it at: Download Pathography_Mariano--edited.pdf

She would like to hear from you after you read the essay.  Just click: Email to contact her.

Ed. note:  I took this photo from Google Images.  It is not of Erin, but illustrates how she interacted with her patient.

June 24, 2008

Caramba

Amid Despair in a Venezuelan Prison, Strains of Hope From a Music Program

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This article from the NY Times movingly describes a project extending Venezuela’s renowned system of youth orchestras to some of the country’s most hardened prisons.  Hundreds of other prisoners are learning a repertory that includes Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and folk songs from the Venezuelan plains.

To read full article go to Permalink

June 21, 2008

Georgie's Girl

Rose Garden, University of British Columbia

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Karen V. Lee is a  Faculty Advisor and co-founder of the Teaching Initiative for Music Educators cohort (TIME) at the Faculty of Education, University of British Columbia.  She is a talented writer who sends us a moving, insightful "tribute written for my father.  It began on the anniversary of his death and was completed several months later.  In the end, the article became transformative as it helped me heal from the loss."

“I want you to be happy,” he says.

“But I am, Dad,” I reply.

“I want you to have some kids.” Sitting on the side of his hospital bed, he folds his arms.

“Maybe,” I say, wanting to please him.

“I want you to get along with your mother.  The two of you have so many loud arguments. I want you to be better to your mother.”

“Why are you saying this now?”

“Because I don’t think I’ll live much longer.  I’m tired and sick and don’t feel good.” 

Tears roll down my face. I doubt him. But I cannot doubt him. In the last spasms of a father-daughter affair, I am a committed romantic. A blooming feminist from scholarly influences. My mind fills with thoughts. I pant, in and out, and explode. Fighting the fight for my father. I couldn’t live without him.

You will both enjoy and benefit from reading Karen Lee's essay.  Here is Georgie's Girl as a pdf: Download georgies_girl.pdf

Nitobe Gardens, UBC

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June 19, 2008

Double Disability

"Kendall Bailey is a rare case of a mentally disabled athlete who also has the physical disabilities to qualify him for the Paralympics. But in April 2008, amid confusion about how disabled athletes are classified both before and during the Games, officials who oversee the American team on behalf of the U.S. Olympic Committee formally asked that Bailey be ruled ineligible."

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This is a longish article but it is singular because it touches on many important points.  Kendall, an adopted child, reached his potential because of the love and dedication of his mother.  His dreams were threatened by the Paralympic bureaucracy.  We know so little about potential.  This piece will both inspire and annoy you.  Read at Permalink

This will make a great documentary.  Stay tuned.

June 16, 2008

Two Poems, a Story and a Drawing

The C2S queue is long and we sense frustration in our authors, poets and artists.  For the next couple of weeks we will bundle presentations.  Today's posting is:
I.  A poem and a story from Toronto;  Marla Lukofsky
II. A drawing and a poem by Texans, Jeff Crouch and Chris Woods.

I.
Marla Lukofsky is a Canadienne comic, writer and poet.  We present here a poem and a story.  You will find them insightful and important.  The poem is short, so here it is:

MEMOIR OF A CHEMO PATIENT

Last Night A Mosquito Bit Me.
It Sucked Up My Poisonous Blood.
I Watched It Fall Fast To The Ground.
And All Of Its Little Black Hairs,
Fell Out Of Its Little Black Legs.
It Was Stilled Forever.
Good.
That’s What You Call Sweet Revenge.

The story: One Moment in Time is a moving tale of enlightenment during radiotherapy for breast cancer.  It begins:  "Let me tell you a story.  It took place during the radiation phase of my breast cancer treatments. My radiation sessions ran at the same time, every day, for six weeks. I saw the same patients, and the same technicians.   I saw the same hot chocolate-cappuccino-coffee machine, the same plastic bowl full of fresh apples, oranges and bananas, the same stack of well worn, out-of-date magazines, the same relatives accompanying their cancer- laden loved ones, and the same zapping of radiation. The only thing that wasn’t the same was our changing bodies. We were all deteriorating..."
to read on see: Download Lukofsky.pdf

II.
Artist Jeff Crouch and writer Christopher Woods collaborated on a mixed media piece:  Taking Heart movingly addresses existential issues that face surgeons.  It is best viewed in the pdf format:  Download taking_heart.pdf


June 10, 2008

The Most Beautiful Sound

By Madelyn G. Kamen
pdf for those who prefer a printout:  Download the_most_beautiful_sound2.pdf

IT is midnight.  The only sound Elizabeth hears is the in and out of Joe’s breathing.  It is the most beautiful sound in the world. 

The lights are out in the room, except for the tiny, high-intensity bulb that sits atop and illuminates the page of the book she is reading. Elizabeth doesn’t know how many medical books she has read or self-help magazines she has leafed-through, or just how many “chicken soup” stories from well-meaning friends that she has tried to concentrate on in the past four months. More than she would like to remember. She stares at the page.

Now and then, she hears the squeak, squeak of rubber soles walking the dimly lit corridor. A heavy-set figure wearing grape-colored scrubs passes by the door, a tray of tiny white cups in her hand.

Tonight, the aide sticks her head in the door.

“Everything all right, Mrs. Frank?” she asks.

“Well, I have one question.”

Elizabeth is happy she has the opportunity to ask something about the tube that is going through Joe’s esophagus into his stomach. She gets an answer, albeit not one that satisfies her.  The doctor will be there in the morning. Maybe. And then, she will ask it again.

It’s never certain if and when the medical staff will show up.  Sometimes, they promise and don’t materialize.  Other times, they promise the morning and get there at six in the afternoon. For Elizabeth, it is a process of waiting and watching. And waiting some more.

It doesn’t much matter though, does it?  The day merges into night, the night into day. The days into weeks, the weeks into months. It’s been four months now.  Four long, anxious months. Elizabeth’s friends tell her she needs to get some rest, to get away for a while.  They simply don’t understand. She doesn’t want to leave Joe.  What if something would happen?  What if she were gone and he was alone to . . . to deal with the crisis?

No. That can’t happen. She would rather stay here in this room with one hospital bed, and one cot, together with Joe. After all, this room is so much better than any of the others they have camped in while they are waiting for his improvement. There have been five before.

At least, this room has a window.  The intensive care unit at the hospital had only what they called a “consultation room”, four bare walls where Elizabeth was allowed to stay. The room had no cot.  Just an uncomfortable, two-seater with not even enough room for her legs to be in a straight line with the rest of her body. She had to pull up a chair and sleep at an angle those nights.  Please God, no more of those.

The health care system has no conscience, Elizabeth decided then. What a name for it: health care. It doesn’t have much to do with health and they sure don’t care about you. The system merely moves people back and forth with money the only object.

Where is the humanity, she wondered. Joe is a person. So is she. How can they let the two of them be moved and moved, like a pair of vagabonds, just to satisfy some requirement that legislators and the insurance companies decided is financially beneficial?

Doesn’t anybody care?

But, despite all that, Elizabeth is thankful. They’ve made it through another day, the two of them. Joe is still here, and he is breathing peacefully for now.  In and out, in and out.  The most beautiful sound in the world.

Author Bio: Madelyn D. Kamen is a free-lance writer and founder of a document development and management-consulting firm.  Prior to establishing this company, she was an associate dean and professor at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.
    While at the University, she published a variety of papers in scientific journals and has been the editor of a campus newsletter and a local political newsletter. She also has developed volunteer manuals and assessment instruments for United Way of the Gulf Coast and for its many participating agencies.
    Madelyn holds masters and doctorate degrees in public health. She has served on numerous boards in the community, particularly in the areas of women and children’s health and welfare. She was a graduate of the Leadership Texas Class of 1992 and was listed in Marquis’ Who’s Who in the Southwest and Who’s Who in America.
    Madelyn’s poems, short stories, and essays have been published in local and national magazines and on the internet. She received second prize and honorable mention in the internet-based contest, Sixty-Second Novelist.  She has recently completed a satirical suspense novel and is currently completing an collection of short stories and essays about everyday life.  MDK email

June 02, 2008

Full Many a Flower

"Full many a flower is born to blush unseen
And waste its sweetness on the desert air"

Here in the Northeast USA, we have months of monochrome.  In April, colors return.  Among the harbingers in a humble tree: Prunus Mume

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Wayne Winterrowd, a good friend of ours, is an occasional contributor to Cell 2 Soul.  He wrote a beautiful essay for C2S "To a Tree: Prunus Mume" which you can read here:  Download prunus_mume_text_for_david.pdf

Please comment to Wayne at: Email

May 30, 2008

Cell 2 Soul 2008 Conference

Come kindred spirits!
Share Stories of Humane Moments in Medicine
at our Montreal Weekend Gathering

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For further information:
contact Dave Elpern or see Program PDF: Download c2s_promo.pdf

This program will appeal to all Cell 2 Soul readers and contributors.  Students are encouraged to join us.  Scholarships are available for those still "in training."
 

May 26, 2008

A Genie, the Bottle and Nirvana

"Jill Bolte Taylor (JBT) was a neuroscientist working at Harvard’s brain research center when she experienced nirvana.

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She did it by having a stroke.

On Dec. 10, 1996, Dr. Taylor, then 37, woke up in her apartment near Boston with a piercing pain behind her eye. A blood vessel in her brain had popped. Within minutes, her left lobe — the source of ego, analysis, judgment and context — began to fail her. Oddly, it felt great."

The New York Times Journal of Medicine had a fine piece about JBT on Sunday, May 25, 2008.  You can access this article here:  JBT NYT

In addition, TED has a presentation by JBT on their web site.  It is 18 minutes long, but it is fascinating and worth listening to:  My Stroke of Insight

What are your thoughts about this?  This is controversial.  It touches on the connection between Cells to Soul which is a concern of ours.