Medicine

The Only Way Out Of The Fog Is Through It

by Bill Brenner January 28, 2015 Coping tools

We all go through it: Something upsets us so much that we go into a fog; unable to function when we’re still required to do so. It rises up like a brick wall. Mood music: We smash into it a few too many times and go through the rest of the day dazed and confused. It’s a natural reaction to life’s more stressful and traumatic moments. If a loved one is sick or dead, or…  [Read More]

ALS Ice Bucket Challenge: Dumb Stunt or Change Agent?

by Bill Brenner August 12, 2014 Medicine

Like pretty much everyone else on Facebook, my news feed has been full of videos of friends and relatives dumping a bucket of ice on their heads to raise awareness of ALS and money for research that may one day lead to better treatment. Some people have suggested this is a useless exercise, something people are doing so friends on Facebook can say, “Wow, look how awesome that person is.” Is that so? Mood music:…  [Read More]

Find Yourself a Real Doctor

by Bill Brenner November 26, 2013 Addiction

Written in June, 2010. Here’s the thing: Asking me for medical advice is like asking Charles Manson how to be a pacifist. Mood music: [spotify:track:79DVDD46pdqwjYucn91fny] In the months since I started this blog, I’ve noticed something expected but weird nonetheless: People are coming to me for medical advice. Several people who saw my post on living with Crohn’s Disease sent me their phone numbers and asked me to call them. I always do, and the…  [Read More]

A Night in the Sleep Lab

by Bill Brenner August 12, 2013 Medicine

I’m a chronic snorer. Hardly a week goes by where I’m not banished to the living room couch at least once for making a racket. My oldest son gleefully tells his buddies that I sound like a “busted chainsaw” at night. Erin has also observed that I sometimes stop breathing for short spurts. It’s an old problem, and two surgeries to the nose and throat failed to fix it. A hefty weight loss didn’t help…  [Read More]

Why Do Americans Die Sooner?

by Bill Brenner January 11, 2013 Medicine

CNN reports that despite spending more per person on healthcare than any other country, Americans are getting sicker and dying younger than our international peers. Why is this? Because Americans are too high strung and overworked. You could say the stress is killing us. Mood music, ironically sung by a couple of Brits: [spotify:track:45Zo6ftGzq6wRckCUrMoBJ] Here’s the takeaway from CNN: Data from 2007 show Americans’ life expectancy is 3.7 years shorter for men and 5.2 years…  [Read More]

All You Wanted Was a Pepsi. Instead You Got Drugs

by Bill Brenner September 19, 2012 Medicine

A friend of mine likes to refer to antidepressants as “brain candy.” I hate when he does, because it oversimplifies the very complicated science of mental medication. It’s not about seeing flowers and sunshine where neither exist. Mood music: There is this notion that taking antidepressants is a sign of weakness. I come across a lot of people who see the medicine as something to take out of desperation and to get off of as…  [Read More]

Exeter Hospital: Stop Making Excuses and Test Employees for Hepatitis C

by Bill Brenner August 17, 2012 Medicine

An open letter to New Hampshire’s Exeter Hospital. To Whom It May Concern: You may find the outrage I’m about to unleash unfair. But the Hepatitis C scare caused by your lax security has threatened someone I love and thousands of others. I spent my childhood in and out of the hospital, getting stuck with needles weekly and sometimes daily. I had a blood transfusion in the 1970s, before blood was tested for AIDS contamination,…  [Read More]

Exeter Hospital’s Hepatitis C Scare Hits Close to Home

by Bill Brenner August 15, 2012 Medicine

David Kwiatkowski made national news for spreading Hepatitis C to patients at Exeter Hospital in N.H. He worked his way across the country, getting fired from several hospitals but escaping arrest until officials at Exeter blew the whistle. The story hits too close to home, as a relative was potentially exposed during an ER visit there last fall. Mood music: [spotify:track:6puCpCdHG5wmLUZB3BL7S9] To date, 31 patients have tested positive for Hepatitus C. The hospital realized something…  [Read More]

How to Stop Screwing Your Patients in Four Simple Steps

by Bill Brenner June 15, 2012 Medicine

A colonoscopy I was supposed to have today was abruptly canceled over missing paperwork. Normally I wouldn’t complain about something like this because life happens. But I’m hearing a lot lately about medical offices screwing up and making the patient feel stupid instead of taking responsibility. Mood music: [spotify:track:79DVDD46pdqwjYucn91fny] I know people who get scared shitless when they have to go for a procedure. They worry for weeks and just want to get it over with, and…  [Read More]

The Monkey Will ALWAYS Be On Your Back

by Bill Brenner April 25, 2012 Addiction

I’m standing at a bar in Boston with my wife and stepmom. They order wine and I order coffee. My stepmom beams and says something about how awesome it is that I beat my demons. I appreciate the pride and the sentiment. But it’s also dangerous when someone tells a recovering addict that they’ve pulled the monkey off their back for good. Mood music: Here’s the thing about that monkey: You can smack him around,…  [Read More]

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