Cell 2 Soul: The Humane Health Care Blog

Rite of Passage

My poem, "Rite of Passage," was written for my fiancee's brother, a childhood friend.  She and I helped him get into recovery three years ago. At the onset, he was hospitalized for some time.  I wrote this for him during that time to help him understand that I knew what he was going through, that I had been there too,  and that I cared.

for my friend, Brian

The only way back to the other side,
Is through a swamp full of hell,
It's a wicked rollercoaster ride,
One that only the true can tell,

The bravest of men will try,
But only the strongest will prevail,
In a boxcar full of demons,
Racing on a slick and evil rail,...

for full poem: Download Rite of Passage

William Lightfoot bio:  Download Lightfoot Bio

Lightfoot Email

Lofty Goals

An elder said:
If you see a young monk by his own will climbing up to heaven,
take him by the foot and throw him to the ground.
What he is doing is not good for him. 
Zen Instruction

 

The Hospice Nurse

by Kathryn Norcutt email author

I saw Agnes, one of my first hospice patients, die before my eyes.  It sounds more dramatic than it actually was, but there was no last minute speech peppered with coughs, or a slow death. It was more like one minute she was there, and the next you could just tell she wasn’t.  She had terminal breast cancer, which she had beaten six years earlier and then it resurfaced, all too quickly. She decided not to go through with any treatment and enjoy what life she had left. I was there in her last of month of life to handle her quality of life, and it disappoints me to know that such a wonderful spark of humanity had been snuffed when she still had years left.

  It was because of her that I became acquainted with the same phrase I now see many hospice organizations use on their sites: "When you cannot add days to your life, add life to your days."

For entire essay see: Download The Role of Hospice Nurse-C2S

Photo credit: will add later

True Vision

Caregiving's Imperative

Arthur Kleinman's recent Perspective piece in the New England Journal of Medicine deserves a wide audience.  Unfortunately, full access is open to only NEJM subscribers or those affiliated with academic institutions.  If, after reading the following quotes, you want to read the entire article, please email me and I'll send you a copy.

picture from http://kennonsburgumc.com

"Modern medical practice's greatest challenge may be finding a way to keep caregiving central to health care. The moral core of medicine may seem abstract, until you see health professionals passionately struggling to be useful, compassionate, responsive, and responsible while working with the indifference of bureaucratic rules, the cold counting and costing of institutional audits, and hard-to-balance personal demands on their time and concern. 

Looking at medicine [as a caring vocation] reinforced my belief that the structure and demands of medical schools and hospitals create obstacles to caregiving. How to revivify caregiving in medicine became the issue. Teaching about illness experiences remains important. Yet the moral–emotional core of those experiences deserves greater primacy — as does the social suffering that affects everyone, but especially marginalized people already injured by poverty, isolation, and other forms of structural violence."

From Illness as Culture to Caregiving as Moral Experience
Arthur Kleinman, M.D.
N Engl J Med 2013; 368:1376-1377April 11

Dr. Rakesh Biswas alerted us to an article in the Stanford Medical Alumni Magazine about Kleniman and his work -- especially his recent epiphany.  See:  Medicine: A Love Story.  The past few paragraphs are especially important.

Aging, Society and Film

If you are fortunate enough to live in or near The Village Bautiful, you will enjoy the free film series at the Milne Library starting on Thursday, April 11, 2013.

Hosted by Dr. Mel Krant the syllabus covers:
Week 1 Immortality. Clips from 'Close Encounters of 3rd Kind' and 'Cacoon'
Week 2 Aging in the traditional world. 'Ballad of Marayama'
Week 3 Dementia. 'On Golden Pond', and 'Iris'
Week 4 Transplants. 'Dirty. Pretty Things'
Week 5  Physician-Assisted suicide. Documentary on Switzerland

For questions, please contact Mel Krant.

Jacquelin Perry, R.I.P.

Dr. Jacquelin Perry, a physician and researcher who shed light on the complexities of walking, and was a leader in treating polio victims in the 1950s and again in the 1980s when the symptoms of some returned, died on March 11 at her home in Downey, Calif. She was 94.

Click here to read the NY Times Obit.

You Don't Know Jack!

Andy Tanji, from Honolulu, alerted us to an amazing Ted video.  Jack Andraka, a 15 year-old student from a suburb of Baltimore, has devised a 3 cent test to detect pancreatic cancer in a lab at Johns Hopkins.  It's in the early stages of production now, but if it comes to market, it will be an amazing advance.

Looking at him, one thinks of the young Steve Jobs and his role in the digital revolution.  Jobs, of course, succumbed to pancreatic cancer (but I am uncertain if this test would have detected the rare form of pancreatic cancer Jobs had).

It should be mentioned that Andraka wrote to 200 scientists for help with lab space and mentoring, but only one offered to help him.  That was Dr. Anirban Maitra, a 1996 graduate of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences at New Delhi, who is currently Associate Professor of Pathology and Oncology at Johns Hopkins.

See: Jack Andraka's 3 Cent Test for Pancreatic Cancer Video.

Last Angel of Corregidor

Mildred Dalton Manning, 98, the last survivor of a group of World War II military nurses known as the Angels of Bataan and Corregidor, died on March 8, 2013. Japanese soldiers captured the American Army and Navy nurses in the Philippines after a surprise attack on the same day Pearl Harbor was bombed. The Japanese held the nurses in a prison camp for three years until American forces liberated them in February of 1945.

This is an inspirational obituary.  The 66 nurses were POWs for three years and three months. Ms. Manning had a long career after she was liberated and is an inspiration to read about.. NY Times Obituary.

Ikkyu - Discovered

It's almost cherry blossom time, and this immortal haiku came unbidden.  The poet, Ikkyu lived in the 15th Century.  His poems, unknown to me previously, are gems of pure serene.

Eat Your Own Fruit

A disciple once complained,
"You tell us stories, but you never
reveal their meaning to us."

Said the master,
"How would you like it if someone
offered you fruit and masticated it
before giving it to you?"

Comment:
No one can find your meaning for you.
Not even the master.

Anthony De Mello:  The Song of the Bird