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. Libby Going, a Family Medicine resident at the University Health Center here in Lafayette. Mardi Gras is here! That means celebrating with floats and parades, king cakes.....and beads. Edible…
This week's guest columnist is Dr. Danielle Duhon, a family practice resident at the University Hospital and Clinics here in Lafayette. First the child complains of chest pain. She might even say it in scarier terms: "My heart…
In the movie Top Gun, Tom Cruise, playing hot-shot fighter pilot "Maverick," yells "I feel the need for speed!" He is of course talking about jets. In medicine, we are talking about stimulant use. Humans around the world…
In this election time, there is lots of talk about the high cost of government-funded health care- for medicare (for the elderly), and medicaid (for children). Democrats and Republicans argue about the burden these programs place…
We see a lot of depressed children and teenagers in the Emergency Department. Often it is because the child is suicidal. Either he or she has has attempted to kill himself, or has stated that he wants to. Depression often comes…
Kids and teens will sometimes have chest pain. It happens more often than you think. We see at least 4-5 kids per week in the Emergency Department for complaints of chest pain. When it happens, parents sometimes freak out. Is…
The following is not an unusual situation: The paramedics pull up on the scene of an injury. They assess the patient, and let’s say the patient is a seven year-old girl with a broken leg. Mom: “Can you take her to Regional…
Sometimes when a parent is talking about her sick child, I hear about things they have already tried to make the kid better. Usually these are the regular things like pain medicines or hot compresses. Sometimes parents try…
The parents got our attention by banging on the Ambulance Entrance doors. In their panic they had stopped there and did not read the signs about the walk-in entrance. They were panicking for good reason. The father had his three…
