Sometimes I wonder what I'd be like if I was born in 1800. I'd be crippled, since I have an arthritis requiring regular medication. Once the arthritis affected my eyes and without medication, I might've become blind. Then one…
Sometimes when seeing a patient in the Emergency Department, I discover the kid isn't vaccinated. The parents often say "I researched it" when explaining why they don't vaccinate. When I hear the word "research," I picture…
This week's guest columnist is Dr. Ashanti Smith, a Family Practice resident at the University Hospital and Clinics here in Lafayette. Every parent dreads: "Mommy..Daddy...my tummy hurts..." Sometimes they whisper this in the…
We read about these things in our books, but when they happen for the first time it's a surprise. The parents rushed their 8 year-old girl into the Emergency Department. She had been riding her bike, turned the handlebars too…
One of last year's fun news stories was a 911 call from a man whose cat wouldn't let him in his house. After a three hour stand off, and after the police and 911 operator finished laughing themselves silly, an officer was…
It's tough to care for friends. My friend Jennifer had delivered her third baby. My patient was baby Julia, who had a rough start, needing oxygen for the first days of life. Jennifer was exhausted from labor, delivery, and…
This week's guest columnist is Dr. Claire Ronkartz, a family practice resident at University Hospital and Clinics here in Lafayette. In the first week of medical school my class was split into groups of ten students with a…
This week's guest columnist is Dr. Susila Shanmuganathan, Family Practice resident at the University Hospital and Clinics here in Lafayette. It's summer time, and the heat is on...on your child's skin! With the sun out, her soft …
Cancer. It's a diagnosis so feared that many are unable to even say the word. If someone does says it, they feel compelled to knock on wood, to ward cancer off like an evil spirit. In the Pediatric Emergency Department, the fear…
