That's Why I'm a Doctor

Physicians Recount Their Most Memorable Moments

Mark Bulgutch

• Publisher: Douglas & McIntyre
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN: 9781771622523
• eBook ISBN: 9781771622530
• Topic: Medicine
• Subtopic: Medicine Biographies

Doctors hold a pretty special place in our lives. They're often there when we're born, and they're usually there when we die. They're there for a lot of the scary or weird stuff that happens in between, too.

In That's Why I'm a Doctor, award-winning journalist Mark Bulgutch brings together forty-six stories from a diverse group of physicians, including pediatricians, interventional radiologists, general surgeons, psychiatrists, family doctors, gastroenterologists, ophthalmologists, gynecologists, neurologists and more. Each doctor's story describes the moment that left them thinking, " That's why I became a doctor."

This volume includes stories of innovation (developing a treatment for cholera); rare and fascinating medical cases (the separation of conjoined twins); the less dramatic but still quietly satisfying times when the doctor was able to have a lasting positive impact on the life of a patient or their family; and, of course, those unexpected moments when the patient taught the doctor an important life lesson that would inform their practice for years to come.

These stories, big and small, are tied together by a sense of caring. It's impossible to read what these doctors have to say and not come away with a new understanding of what goes through the mind of the person on the other end of the stethoscope and how dedicated doctors must be to do what they do.

That’s Why I’m a Doctor

Mark Bulgutch

That’s Why I’m a Doctor

Physicians Recount Their Most Memorable Moments

Copyright © 2020 Mark Bulgutch

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without prior permission of the publisher or, in the case of photocopying or other reprographic copying, a licence from Access Copyright, www.accesscopyright.ca, 1-800-893-5777, [email protected].

Douglas and McIntyre (2013) Ltd.

P.O. Box 219, Madeira Park, BC, V0N 2H0

www.douglas-mcintyre.com

Photos courtesy the individual doctors except where otherwise noted

Edited by Betty Keller

Cover and text design by Shed Simas / Onça Design

Printed and bound in Canada

Douglas and McIntyre (2013) Ltd. acknowledges the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, the Government of Canada, and the Province of British Columbia through the BC Arts Council.

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Title: That’s why I’m a doctor : physicians recount their most memorable moments / Mark Bulgutch.

Names: Bulgutch, Mark, editor.

Description: Edited by Mark Bulgutch.

Identifiers: Canadiana (print) 20190231696 | Canadiana (ebook) 2019023170X | ISBN 9781771622523 (softcover) | ISBN 9781771622530 (HTML)

Subjects: LCSH: Physicians—Canada—Anecdotes. | LCSH: Medicine—Canada—Anecdotes. | LCGFT: Anecdotes.

Classification: LCC R705 .T43 2020 | DDC 610.971—dc23

As with most things in life, it’s easier to write a book when you’re happy. And I am. Just about all the time. That’s because of the four people closest to me in the world. My wife Rhonda is not a doctor, but she has kept me physically and mentally healthy for almost forty-four years. Her intuition about medical things is uncanny. She knows when I’m sick before I know it.

My first-born daughter is Melissa. She once cried after a visit to the doctor because she didn’t get a needle. She thought doctors always gave needles, and she was looking forward to it.

My younger daughter Jessica has visited doctors way too often. Stitches here and there. Broken bones here and there. They always patched her up so she could go injure something else.

My granddaughter Reid enjoys playing with the same doctor kit her mother used to play with. She tells me she does not want to grow up to be a doctor, but it’s early yet.

There isn’t a day that goes by when I don’t feel blessed that they are in my life.

Contents

1. Introduction ix
2. Run for a Life Sunit Das 1
3. Part of the Family Lisa Del Giudice 7
4. Changing the Zeitgeist Laurence Klotz 13
5. The Gift of Sight William Dixon 20
6. When the Patient Is the Teacher Karen Devon 25
7. A Good Doctor Shel Krakofsky 29
8. Stormy Weather Andrew Lynk 35
9. Upstream, Downstream Ak’ingabe Guyon 41
10. The Path Taken John Telner 47
11. Allergic Reaction Stephan Malherbe 54
12. Shooting Stars Ajantha Jayabarathan 59
13. Do unto Others . . . Sheldon Singh 65
14. “Never Thought We’d See That” Mike Ertel 70
15. Honesty As Policy Peter Rosenbaum 75
16. “I’ll Never Forget” Robin McLeod 80
17. A Single Breath Gil Faclier 84
18. The Challenge of Uncertainty Nick Daneman 88
19. “This Is Badass!” Donna May Kimmaliardjuk 94
20. Prolonging Death Rebecca Rodin 100
21. Looking Outside the Box Michael Charness 104
22. “What Happened to You?” Felice Lackman 108
23. He Was Supposed to Die Sam Campbell 113
24. A Real Eye-Opener Howard Lewis 119
25. One Surgeon, Two Lives Jacob Langer 123
26. I See Very Determined Women Erin L...

Table of contents

• Introduction
• Run for a Life · Sunit Das
• Part of the Family · Lisa Del Giudice
• Changing the Zeitgeist · Laurence Klotz
• The Gift of Sight · William Dixon
• When the Patient Is the Teacher · Karen Devon
• A Good Doctor · Shel Krakofsky
• Stormy Weather · Andrew Lynk
• Upstream, Downstream · Ak’ingabe Guyon
• The Path Taken · John Telner
• Allergic Reaction · Stephan Malherbe
• Shooting Stars · Ajantha Jayabarathan
• Do unto Others . . . · Sheldon Singh
• “Never Thought We’d See That” · Mike Ertel
• Honesty As Policy · Peter Rosenbaum
• “I’ll Never Forget” · Robin McLeod
• A Single Breath · Gil Faclier
• The Challenge of Uncertainty · Nick Daneman
• “This Is Badass!” · Donna May Kimmaliardjuk
• Prolonging Death · Rebecca Rodin
• Looking Outside the Box · Michael Charness
• “What Happened to You?” · Felice Lackman
• He Was Supposed to Die · Sam Campbell
• A Real Eye-Opener · Howard Lewis
• One Surgeon, Two Lives · Jacob Langer
• I See Very Determined Women · Erin Lurie
• Scared Healthy · Fred Saibil
• Small-Town Trauma · Mohamed-Iqbal Ravalia
• Seeing the Whole Patient · Ron Charach
• Where Everybody Knows You · Heather Morrison
• Knowing Everything about Almost Nothing · Duncan Anderson
• Doing the Right Thing · Neill Iscoe
• The Girl in the Yellow Dress · Andrew Furey
• Eleven Minutes · Joshua Bezanson
• The Evil Eye · Daniel Carucci
• From Patient to Doctor · Laura Tate
• My Patient, My Friend · Mark Wise
• Brain Reset · Paul Atkinson
• Dying on a Bed of Roses · George Ibrahim
• New and Improved · Shady Ashamalla
• The Number One Health Threat · Courtney Howard
• Solving the Puzzle · Arthur Bookman
• The High Cost of Stigma · Vincent Agyapong
• Changing a Life in an Instant · Stan Feinberg
• Addicted to Technology · Shimi Kang
• Stopping a Killer · David Sachar
• The Worst Day of Somebody Else’s Life · Jeffrey Eppler
• About the Author · Mark Bulgutch