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Husband Disapproves Of Wife’s Decision To Get Breast Reduction Surgery

Jeanette’s story:

For as long as I can remember my nickname has been ‘Jen Big Boobs’. Friends joke that the first thing they see when I walk through the door is my chest. I know they mean no harm – just as ­­I know that my husband, Steve, adores them ­­– but it’s reached the point where they have ­­got to go. They simply dominate my life. Whether I’m trying to get comfy in bed or walking down the street I can’t forget them for a moment. They are always there, getting in the way of everything I do. In primary school I was the first in class to wear a bra. So when my pals changed in the classroom for PE, I’d change in the loos. Big boobs weren’t a huge surprise – they ­run in my family. But it was embarrassing and ­I didn’t like being different. They’ve singled me out for loads of attention. Buying bras has always been and still is a nightmare. I have to order specially-made ones that are ugly and cost up to £50. By the time I was 20 I’d already gone to see ­my GP about a reduction operation. He was ­sympathetic but said I was too young for ­surgery.

Steve’s story:

I love my wife’s big boobs and don’t want them reduced. I don’t mind admitting that Read more »

*This blog post was originally published at Truth in Cosmetic Surgery*

The Problem With Dermal Fillers

From Forbes:

But today, a range of dermal fillers can be injected into those crow’s feet, marionette lines, thinning lips and furrows between the brows, taking years off the face–and all can be done during your lunch hour, with no invasive surgery and little recovery time.
Source: forbes.com/2009/05/26/dermal-filler-cosmetic-forbes-woman-well-being-facelift.html

I love how the press tends to make it seem like Dermal Fillers are the solution for which we have all been waiting. They make it an issue of just “choosing the right one.”

The issue here is that dermal fillers Read more »

*This blog post was originally published at Truth in Cosmetic Surgery*

The Downfall Of EMRs: Capturing Too Much Data

We have a new EMR system.  I like it because I type well.  I’m facile at using a keyboard and touch-screen.  Not everyone in my group is so blessed, and we’ve had some difficulties using the voice-transcription software.  Nevertheless, my gut tells me that in a month or two more, we’ll be getting along with our new system swimmingly.  It’s the sort of thing I have wanted for a while, since I truly hate to dictate; and especially hated dictating the information the nurses had already entered into the computer!

However, I have an issue.  Not so much with our EMR, but with all EMRs.  I have an issue with the deeply-held delusion that computerization will automatically improve charting and patient care.

Some time ago, the inimitable, world famous blogger Dr. Wes (who can be found at http://drwes.blogspot.com/ ) told me that his facility’s conversion to EMR caused him to spend far more time at the computer than with the patient.  And true to his great wisdom and insight, that’s where I find myself.  It isn’t the location of the computers.  We have portable ‘tough-books’ that can go to the bedside. Read more »

*This blog post was originally published at edwinleap.com*

When Your iPhone Finishes Your Sentences

I personally find the word-completion tool kind of annoying on the iPhone – especially as a doc. The software is geared towards choosing the most common word after a few letters, and you can bet that physicians are not typing out common words. Like “emycin” is not “empty” – I’m just sayin’.

A couple of awkward ones recently – my friend was texting me about a tragic and unexpected event and I responded with “Geeze!” which (as I pressed send) turned into “Geese!” That one was hard to explain, and quite insensitive at the time. Err…

Another friend of mine was dealing with a sick kitty at home. She had taken the cat to the vet because she’d stopped eating/going to the litter box. The kitty was diagnosed with an infection and was on the road to recovery, when a couple days later she had her first bowel movement. So my friend decided to text her husband the good news via her iPhone. She typed “the cat went poo,” but alas, the iPhone had the last word. Her husband received this alarming, if not perplexing text message:

“the cat went pop”

Have you had similar iPhone drama? Do share…

Latest Interviews

IDEA Labs: Medical Students Take The Lead In Healthcare Innovation

It’s no secret that doctors are disappointed with the way that the U.S. healthcare system is evolving. Most feel helpless about improving their work conditions or solving technical problems in patient care. Fortunately one young medical student was undeterred by the mountain of disappointment carried by his senior clinician mentors…

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How To Be A Successful Patient: Young Doctors Offer Some Advice

I am proud to be a part of the American Resident Project an initiative that promotes the writing of medical students residents and new physicians as they explore ideas for transforming American health care delivery. I recently had the opportunity to interview three of the writing fellows about how to…

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Latest Book Reviews

Book Review: Is Empathy Learned By Faking It Till It’s Real?

I m often asked to do book reviews on my blog and I rarely agree to them. This is because it takes me a long time to read a book and then if I don t enjoy it I figure the author would rather me remain silent than publish my…

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The Spirit Of The Place: Samuel Shem’s New Book May Depress You

When I was in medical school I read Samuel Shem s House Of God as a right of passage. At the time I found it to be a cynical yet eerily accurate portrayal of the underbelly of academic medicine. I gained comfort from its gallows humor and it made me…

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Eat To Save Your Life: Another Half-True Diet Book

I am hesitant to review diet books because they are so often a tangled mess of fact and fiction. Teasing out their truth from falsehood is about as exhausting as delousing a long-haired elementary school student. However after being approached by the authors’ PR agency with the promise of a…

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