Cell 2 Soul: The Humane Health Care Blog

Honoring the Story

Daryl Potyk, a physician in the state of Washington, shares a cautinary tale with us.  His essay, "In Search of  the Story," is important for patients and care-givers alike. As physicians get busier, as care gets more fragmented between primary care doctors, PAs, NPs, hospitalists, ER docs, specialists and sub-specialists, the person as patient often becomes an invisable man.  Dr. Potyk's insight is essential.

"How could we have been taking care of Mr. Jones for as long as we had without knowing him?  We knew his blood counts, we knew about his kidneys and his liver, we had stuck needles into his abdomen to obtain fluid samples; we knew a lot about him.  We focused on his medical problems, treated him, took care of him, all without ever knowing him." Download Potyk In Search of the Story

Author Bio: Daryl Potyk, a board certified in Iinternist and geriatrician, has been teaching at the Internal Medicine Residency in Spokane, WA since 1994.  He lives in Spokane, WA with his wife and three children.  Email:  DKP.

(Photo: Homeless Man, Bowery, Manhattan from Michael Fairchild Photography: World Faces.)

Story Telling and Dementia

Lisa O'Brien, of Williamstown, alerted us to an NPR piece which reports on how getting people with Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia to tell stories can be therapeutic.

"Storytelling is one of the most ancient forms of communication — it's how we learn about the world. It turns out that for people with dementia, storytelling can be therapeutic. It gives people who don't communicate well a chance to communicate. And you don't need any training to run a session."

See: "Alzheimer's Patients Turn to Stories Not Memories."

In our era of high tech medical care, here is another example of a low-tech intervention that holds promise without increasing the cost of care.

For more background about this program see:  TimeSlips.

My Uncle Jack and Fate

Betty Z. was 21 in 1937 when she started working at her Uncle's mecial office in the Bronx.  Herein, she relates some memories.

Pelham Pkwy Station

 In 1937, when I was 21, I took a job in my uncle's office. Jack Levine was a G.P. in the Bronx. I was taking a night course to become a medical technician at the Mandl School in Manhattan and worked during the day.  The office occupied the first floor of my grandmother's house. The Pelham Parkway elevated subway station was on the corner. For more Download Betty 1937

 

Betty and the Young Doctor, Circa 1941

Betty Z. today

"Tho’ much is taken, much abides; and tho’      
We are not now that strength which in old days   
Mov’d earth and heaven, that which we are, we are:   
One equal temper of heroic hearts,   
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will..."  Tennyson's Ulysses

Author Bio: Betty Z. lives six miles from the Pelham Parkway station.  She has had a life full of many adventures.  At 95, this is her first publication.  It’s never too late to pen one’s recollections.  We hope to receive more of her wisdom.

 

The Call of Stories

"The Universe is made up of Stories, not atoms."

Muriel Rukeyser

My Father's Story

Tamar Hoffmann, a holistic internist in Honolulu, Hawaii graces us with the story of her family's escape from Nazi Germany.  It is a moving tale of an ordinary family in extraordinary times.

"My father was was born in December 1921, the first son of a young orthodox Jewish couple in Kassel, Germany.  He had a blissful childhood, living with his parents, two younger siblings and paternal grandparents in a spacious apartment on Train Station Street (Bahnhoff Strasse).

The kids went to a Hebrew school. My great-grandfather taught them Hebrew even before they started school so they could read and recite the prayers. After school they studied and played music, which had a very important role in their lives..."  You will find Tamar's story captivating and moving:  Download My Father's Story

You may contact the author at Tamar's Email.

Marginal Notes: Out West

 
He had come back east at the beginning of the month to see his family for the holidays.  It was the first Christmas without his grandfather.  The young man had lost his job—got laid off—and left his car at his apartment in Utah.  “Go back,” his landlady had told him.  “Go back east and figure things out.”  more»

 

Brian T. Maurer has practiced pediatrics as a Physician Assistant for thirty years.  His "Marginal Notes" column appears periodically in the Cell2Soul Blog. The title "Marginal Notes" is taken from a quote by Henry David Thoreau: "I love a broad margin to my life."

A Special Day

A few months ago, Len Hoenig, a Florida internist, sent us an essay which resonated with the "holiday season,"  this dark time when, in the Northern Hemisphere, the light returns as does (for some) hope...  Take it, Len!

"In this Holiday Season we pray for peace on earth and goodwill unto all mankind. It is my hope that the “special day” described in my essay will come to pass."

          "My alarm clock rang.  It was 7 a.m.  It had been a restful night.  I was surprised the hospital had not called, considering that my last admission was quite ill.  He was an elderly man from a nursing home who was admitted at midnight, in septic shock from a urinary tract infection.  I called the ICU and was pleased to learn that the patient had stabilized and was off life support.  Read on... Download A special day

Len can be reached at: gooddocljhATyahoo.com

Ageing II

Well Met
by
Peter Albertson

It was parents' weekend at Williams College in Williamstown, MA, and I was sitting at the bar of Isabella's, my favorite restaurant, in nearby North Adams, nursing my usual club soda. The place was jammed, with perhaps a dozen or more people waiting for tables.  A woman and her three companions came in.  I can't remember two of that party; but I remember sharply the entrance of this youngish middle-aged, handsome, African-American woman and her daughter... to read more see Download WELL MET

Note:  Albertson, "alone and palely loitering" in the Berkshires, describes this chance meeting in poignant detail.  You will enjoy reading more. He can be reached at PA:Email.