By
Alessandra Colaianni, M.D.
New
York Times, May 10, 2019
She was young and strong,
fought hard no matter what we did, tried to pull the breathing tube from her
throat each time she approached sufficient consciousness to permit purposeful
movement. Her eyelids were sewn shut to protect her eyes from desiccation, but
this did not prevent tears from rolling down her face. In the burn surgery
intensive care unit, she lived out this nightmare in a heated cage made of what
looked and felt like plastic wrap: a necessary intervention, for she had lost
every last bit of her skin.
This
beautiful essay was written by a senior ENT resident from Boston. There is much in it for all of us. Osler
wrote: “I would urge upon you to care
more particularly for the individual patient than for the special features of
the disease. Dealing as we do with poor suffering humanity, we see the man
unmasked, exposed to all the frailties and weaknesses, and you have to keep
your heart soft and tender…” Dr.
Colaianni’s beautiful essay channels Osler.
Hypertext
Link. (If this does not work, I'll send you a pdf.
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