Athens, the second stop on our long trip east, isn\’t Paris. Just as Paris is profoundly Western in its gallic snotty attitude, rich flavor and fastidiousness, Athens belongs to the East. The sun is hotter, the streets narrower, the decibels roar. Neighbors shout at each other from across the street, motorcycles rev their stinky engines, …
Athens, the second stop on our long trip east, isn\’t Paris. Just as Paris is profoundly Western in its gallic snotty attitude, rich flavor and fastidiousness, Athens belongs to the East. The sun is hotter, the streets narrower, the decibels roar. Neighbors shout at each other from across the street, motorcycles rev their stinky engines, …
Like all doctors, I’m a lousy patient. My doctor is a lovely man, but going to see him? That\’s right there with weighing myself, getting a flu shot and doing my taxes, and behind celebrating Thanksgiving with the in-laws and getting a root canal. And I’m not the only one. If I had a …
I’ve been many places and done many things, but buying a one-way ticket? I’ve only done that once. Twenty-two years ago, when I left Romania with a kid and two suitcases. The second time is now, as we start our long trip east. We’ve been getting ready for weeks. We renewed our wills. I bought …
My friend the hospitalist was livid as he came from meeting the administration. “They said doctors cost too much!” he sputtered. “We’re an expense. An expense the hospital can no longer support. WE are an expense!” He turned purple. Nice color, like a good Bordeaux. I worried about his blood pressure. He can\’t have a healthy lifestyle! None …
People are dropping like flies in Dr. Emma Steele\’s ER, and nobody knows why. A new disease? Medication errors? Poisoned oxygen? She must find out, even though her job is in peril, her daughter disappeared, and she\’d rather be home, drinking wine. A mercy killer? But why would he kill a healthy patient? Are they …
My second thriller in the ER crimes, MERCY, was the hardest one to write. Like every middle child, it got ignored a lot. OVERDOSE came out with a bang. I obsessed on it like a mother on her first child. Nothing else mattered. I made sure no harm would come to it. I …
I work in the ER. It’s not an easy job. Not glamorous either. At least not as glamorous as my Mother-in-Law used to think. Years ago, when I declared I was going into Emergency, she looked at me askance. She didn’t ask why. She looked at me with her wise old eyes. “Let me tell …
I’m an ER doc, and proud of it. But I never mention it when I meet new people. Unless someone\’s fixing to die, I avoid it like the plague. “I work in a hospital,” I say. “Where in the hospital?\” “The ER. How about you?” That\’s a topic changer since most people would rather talk about themselves. …
I’m a doctor. And, like most medical professionals, I\’m a bad patient. Two years after my last appointment, I got a CTJ, \”Come to Jesus\” from my doctor. I called his office for a form. I needed proof that I don’t have tertiary syphilis. For my Thai visa. Why tertiary syphilis, as opposed to HIV, …
