'It's OK if you die' — why Ben Taub is the people's hospital (Essay)
I read about Alvaro’s many surgeries: hip surgery, belly surgery, large portions of his intestines removed. For months, he couldn’t eat, his only nutrition delivered through an IV and then a tube in his stomach. It started as colon cancer. It had spread throughout Alvaro’s body to multiple organs and joints. Over the prior nine months, he’d only spent a couple of weeks out of the hospital.
When I was on my way into his room, the nurse had stopped me. There was a decision I had to make, the quicker the better. “MAP is 60,” she said.It took me more than a second to realize what she was saying. The mean arterial pressure tells us if our vital organs are receiving an adequate amount of blood and nourishment. If this number is too low, then organs aren’t receiving the blood supply needed to survive.
Alvaro told me about the past nine months of his life — not about the pain or the vomiting or the bloody stools constantly filling the bag attached to what remained of his intestines, but how he had become a burden to his family. He was the same age as my grandfather; maybe that’s why I said what I did. Or maybe seeing the fear in his eyes when we discussed what might happen next, that this could go on, gave me the courage to be frank.
France Dernières Nouvelles, France Actualités
Similar News:Vous pouvez également lire des articles d'actualité similaires à celui-ci que nous avons collectés auprès d'autres sources d'information.
Mom Encourages Teen to Turn in Essay Generated With ChatGPTA mother whose teen son struggles with a learning disability urged him to turn in an essay written by ChatGPT — and was pretty pleased with the results.
Lire la suite »
Essay | What Worked Against Covid: Masks, Closures and VaccinesThe best data on measures taken during the pandemic show that masks, closures and vaccines saved millions of lives, writes the former chief of the CDC—but millions more could have been saved
Lire la suite »
Essay | What I Failed to Understand About Saddam’s Iraq—and American PowerOn the 20th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, Robert D. Kaplan reflects on why he supported the war at the time and the lessons it has taught America since.
Lire la suite »
Essay | For Long-Term Health and Happiness, Marriage Still MattersA new study of nearly 12,000 women finds that getting married brings significant benefits in health and well-being, bolstering the case for marriage as a social good.
Lire la suite »
Ben Affleck Calls Justice League ‘Worst Experience’ of His CareerWell... watching it wasn’t great either.
Lire la suite »