Diagnosis

Taking Charge of My Story as a Cancer Patient at the Hospital Where I Work

Being an “interesting” patient who also happened to be a trainee made me a morbid little celebrity.

May 21, 2019
When It Hurts So Bad: On Fighting a Depressive Episode

“I feel like I’m hyperventilating. I can’t stop crying and I can’t breathe. I’m afraid I’m going to drown on dry land.”

May 14, 2018
The Pain Clinic

The opioid crisis has made it risky for doctors to prescribe pain medications to suffering patients in need.

Apr 02, 2018
Schrödinger’s Cancer

You think you’ll never take wellness for granted. But, despite your best intentions, you do.

Mar 22, 2018
The Land Without Shoelaces and Sharps: Two Misdiagnoses

For seven years, I lived afraid of my own mind, only to learn it had been a mistake.

Dec 20, 2017
Premature Baby, Preexisting Condition

“I am terrified that one day we will not pursue a treatment our son needs because we can no longer pay for it.”

Nov 06, 2017
To the Next Young Black Woman Facing Breast Cancer

“I’ve fervently wished to see women who look like me and have lived through this.”

A View from the Beyhive’s Cheap Seats When All You Want Is a Baby You Can’t Have

“Even in that happy space, doubt, disbelief, and a gnawing sadness started to swirl, rise, and create confusion.”

Oct 11, 2017
“Let Me Pass Away”: When Your Mother Blames You for Your Cancer Diagnosis

“My mother assumed I must have done something to bring a rare blood cancer upon myself.”

Sep 29, 2017
When All This Is History: North London, the Land, and Life with a Neurological Disorder

I have never been anything but this ragged, medicated self; I have never been less aware of the ground beneath my feet.

Jul 25, 2017
Teshima: On Hearing Loss, My Son, and the Sea

There’s the lingering fear that I’ll no longer be able to hear my son’s voice.

Jan 30, 2017
A Disaster Not to Be Found: On Survival (and Ultrasounds)

It had all started about five or six years earlier, around the first time I fell in love. I didn’t know when it would end.

Jan 25, 2017
A Strange Language: How a Chronic Heart Condition Has (and Hasn’t) Changed My Life

Sometimes I’m convinced no other person will ever know my fragile heart the way I do.

Jan 24, 2017
Strands: On Cancer, Hair, and Grieving a Stranger

“She touched my hair with fingers fluent in love.”

Dec 12, 2016
No Satori: Living Between Noise and Silence

“Our ability to attach layers of memory to sound makes us human.”

Nov 22, 2016
Living in the Labyrinth of My Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

“Perhaps the point of a labyrinth is not to find the exit.”

Nov 16, 2016