Surgical Diversions

The practice is expanding into a new suite, and while one office battle was lost, new space was secured for both the author and his mother -- with a move of the general surgery practice under consideration once the current lease expires.

At just over two years old, a daughter is forming multi-word sentences and speaking with great seriousness -- even if the actual words remain largely undecipherable to her captivated parents.

Son Jonathan is turning eight and has been given a motivating challenge: reach reading and writing fluency and earn a new iMac connected to the home wireless network.

West Virginia surgeons took coordinated leaves of absence from hospital practice to protest malpractice insurance rates exceeding $100,000 per year, and this post explains the mechanics of their action and why it does not constitute patient abandonment.

The final day of ER call means four Sunday operations and missing visiting family, offering a candid look at the personal costs of surgical on-call life.

A recap of a compelling ACS Conference talk that challenged the widely-cited claim of 98,000 annual deaths from physician negligence by exposing flaws in the source study, and made the case that effective tort reform is essential to controlling insurance…

A detailed account of taking a critically ill patient back to the OR for bowel leakage, discovering interloop abscesses and a small bowel perforation, and managing the case with an ileostomy, colostomy revision, and an open abdomen using a Bogota Bag.

On a birthday morning, the family discovered their cars had been burglarized overnight, with valuables including a purse, checkbook, credit cards, and a Game Boy stolen -- prompting a long day of account cancellations and a hard-learned lesson.

A hectic week of ten surgical cases concludes with general surgeons convening to draft a proposal to hospital administration seeking compensation for ER call coverage.

A brief musing on the one-sided nature of blogging -- writing into the void with no expectation of a response, and finding that oddly therapeutic.

A frustrated venting after a radiologist performed the wrong exam without calling to confirm the order, leaving the patient with an unnecessary charge and the surgeon without the study he needed.

A candid note explaining how busy surgical days leave no time for writing until the house is quiet, and even then insomnia keeps the mind racing.

A brief, somber follow-up noting the passing of Winnie Cozier at 102 years old.

A brief, somber note on learning that a family friend at 101 years old is developing serious heart failure.

A warm snapshot of a first birthday celebration featuring family, stuffed animals, an ignored cupcake, and the exciting coincidence of first wobbly steps.

After a full day of surgeries and an evening consult, arriving home in time to read to one child and watch the other take her first steps made it all worthwhile.

A charming observation on a one-year-old who refuses to go to bed because everything around her is simply too new and interesting to sleep through.