ER, Pneumonia
Hooked to a ventilator
Just another day
Or alternate ending:
Fuck you, ALS
Category Archives: Doctors
Driving Force
The first neurologist I ever saw was a 2nd-year resident who looked like a high school kid. I’ve blogged about him before; he’s the one who told me he thought I might have ALS after we’d known each other for 20 minutes. He’s the one who told me I might want to reconsider trying for a second child. I wouldn’t exactly call him a bad guy, but I don’t have a lot of fond memories from our time together.
One of the things he told me early on was that everything was going to get harder for me. Walking, stair climbing, driving. I was most concerned about the driving, and I pressed him on it. He assured me that my losses would be gradual, that it would never come down to me getting behind the wheel and being suddenly, surprisingly unable to operate the car safely. Don’t worry about that, he told me.
It’s funny, because it was likely the only reassuring thing he’d ever said to me, and it turned out to be a bunch of crap. Read More>
Brain Power
Scarlett and I paid a visit to one of our favorite doctors, Dr. Steve Finkbeiner, in his lab last week. Dr. Finkbeiner works at UCSF’s Gladstone Institute and is the inventor of robotic microscopy, which is a huge step for modern drug discovery. He’s also just an all-around nice guy, who lets me stop by and bother him, even when I bring a 4-year-old who is still wearing her fairy costume from that day’s Carnevale party at school.
The first time we visited the lab, Dr. Finkbeiner and I chatted about research developments while Scarlett was spirited away by an assistant to make a “neuron” out of styrofoam and pipe cleaners. This time, she stayed with me in the office, manhandling the doc’s extensive collection of toy brains. He has one real brain in formaldehyde that I think is fascinating, but Scarlett was far more interested in the gooey, wind-up brains, and would not stop touching them.
I asked the good doctor to show me which part of the brain is responsible for impulse control and at what point it becomes developed in children. Short answers: The Front Part and Not Yet. Read More>