by Lissa Rankin | Oct 4, 2012 | Physical Health
Back when I was still in clinical practice, my newly pregnant patient Samantha, accompanied by her husband John, asked if I would order every medical test known to modern science in order to guarantee, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that both mother and baby would be...
by Lissa Rankin | Sep 13, 2012 | Physical Health
Elsie was 52 years old when her belly started bloating, accompanied by bursts of intermittent abdominal pain and bouts of nausea and diarrhea. As a nurse, she knew enough about her body to feel convinced that her symptoms were related to eating dairy. She had gotten...
by Lissa Rankin | Sep 20, 2011 | Physical Health
I don’t think it’s enough for us, as doctors and other health care providers, to aim for helping our patients get well. Yes, it’s critical to help people move from sick to well, but then what? So many of my patients go to their doctors, complaining from symptoms of...
by Lissa Rankin | Aug 21, 2011 | Physical Health
When I interviewed women who had survived breast cancer for my art project The Woman Inside, I noticed that they all shared one remarkable thing in common. They had all faced down death and decided to live every day like it might be their last. And then they all beat...
by Lissa Rankin | Jun 6, 2011 | Physical Health
I’ve tried to leave medicine at least a dozen times. Medicine and I are like that couple that keeps breaking up and getting back together again, the ones you’re sure are done this time, only they kiss and make up and ultimately wind up engaged, leaving you partly...
