Seizing the Moment
One morning Jim Langmeyer felt a terrible sensation that began in his back, radiated up his shoulders and shot through his ribcage. The severity had been building over a few days, but Jim had grown accustomed to living with cancer pain. He waited for it to break.
Training Teaches Nurses How to Discuss Emotional Issues
Kathy Ryan, RN, is an expert in critical care nursing. A nurse for 17 years, Ms. Ryan works in the most technologically advanced setting — the Medical Intensive Care Unit (MICU) at Massachusetts General Hospital. Omnipresent at the bedside, Ms. Ryan expertly monitors physiological responses, titrates multiple IV drugs, and operates critical equipment. Through close surveillance, she is able to detect subtle and early changes in her patients’ conditions.
Targeting Violence
On a Thursday afternoon, Elexson Hercules arrived at a gym in Boston’s Roxbury neighborhood bleary-eyed, but shyly smiling. A group of young men had gathered near the gym’s entrance. The current and former gang members spoke in hushed tones and scanned the gym warily. They didn’t bother Mr. Hercules, but he knew their violent world.
When There’s Cancer in the Family
Ellen Huberman had both of her ovaries removed in 2009; when she recovered, she had both of her breasts removed. What’s unusual about Ms. Huberman is that she was totally healthy when she was wheeled in the operating rooms at Massachusetts General Hospital for both of those procedures. Ms. Huberman, who lives in Newton, Mass., opted for the oophorectomy and double mastectomy as a preventative measure after testing positive for the BRCA2 mutation, which predisposes women to a 50 to 85 percent risk of breast cancer and up to 45 percent for ovarian cancer.
