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Speediness, swiftness, rapidity, haste, hustle…. common buzzwords in an intensive care unit. A patient’s heart rate is 200 beats per minute. Ignored for a few seconds, this racing heart may degenerate into a rhythm that fails to pump blood into vital organs, leading...

COVID has been with us for two years. I have written my reflection during the pandemic, periodically, to vent, to share, to disseminate information. But I have felt at a loss for words in the last few months. I am exhausted, emotionally drained, and bereft. ...

The waves came and dissipated. We weathered the first four waves. It was tough, we lost many, but not unexpectedly. In the first wave, we were caught completely unawares, unprepared, like a deer frozen in headlights. We got through the mayhem. And we regrouped,...

I am a pretty 'chill' person. I respect personal choice and freedom. As an intensive care physician, during a global pandemic, I have witnessed suffering and death on a level that I could not have imagined. When the COVID vaccine was approved (albeit EUA), in late...

(This is my fictional perspective as a patient in the ICU) The awareness arises in surges. Sometimes, it afflicts me like a lightning bolt, and at other times caresses like a gentle nudge. I prefer unconsciousness to awareness. Awareness frightens me. It confuses...

In the time of COVID, our weekend excursion options are limited. Hiking has become our safe, go-to activity, and we have explored many trails in this past year. On this pleasant, overcast weekend, we chose to explore a two-mile local trial. We pass by fellow hikers,...

A subtle vibration permeates the still air, a thumping, that melds with our heartbeat. The drumbeat becomes constant, louder, deafening, echoing the chaos around us.  The sounds initially emanate from a far-off land. There is news of a contagion. There are images...

I reminisce about him, a decade old memory, from time to time. He was in his early thirties. He was a father to three little girls, married to his high school sweetheart. She stood by his side throughout, a faint frown furrowing her brow. She knew that the stakes were...

Medical training spans an eternity. One has to complete high school, college, medical school, before crossing the final hurdle of residency training. I ‘matched’ for internal medicine residency, in a university hospital in the mid-west. The program had a...

His eyes are luminous, I get a glimpse of his pure soul, brilliant, untarnished, innocent. He greets  me with a disarming smile. He can hardly contain himself. I am weary. I had a full load of patients  in clinic today. My medical assistant was a new hire,...