Health Care Haikus

Dr Rob Lamberts of Musings of a Distractible Mind is holding a “Health Care Haiku Contest“. The actual contest is at his Facebook page.

Inspired by the beautiful haiku of Dr. Ramona Bates of Suture for a Living, who also inspired T of Notes of an Anesthesioboist to write a Haiku, I started to write my own. Once I started writing, I couldn’t stop.

This is the result: 9 Health Care Haikus.

Haiku #1

Dark when he leaves home,

Dark when he returns from work.

Resident Life.

Haiku #2

Web 2 point ooh tools,

Might help to reform health care.

Change needs people 2.

Haiku #3

Health Care Reform.

An unaffordable plan?

A matter of choice.

Haiku #4

One trillion for war.

The poor denied insurance.

U.S. Death Panel.

Haiku #5

P S A screening,

rectal exams, biopsies.

Worries, no less deaths.

Haiku #6

Doctor, Desk, Patient

Questions, silence, not understood,

Frown, shake hands, such pain.

Haiku #7

Fragile hands, white sheets,

Witty old man, nurses laugh.

Shout down silent tears.

Haiku #8

Wishing he was dead,

Paralyzed from neck down,

Nothing he can do.

Haiku #9

The man next to me

discusses end-of-life-wish.

Curtains are closed.

Notes and Acknowledgements

• Haiku #1 : Inspired by a tweet by Scott Greenberg, MD (and resident)
• Haiku #2: Own experience, Web 2.0 is more than web 2.0 tools, Web 2.0 is people (see presentation)
• Haiku #3 and #4: Based on article: “We Can’t Afford Health Care? You Lie!” at Truthorg. (see linked photo below)
• Haiku #5 A lot of money goes into screening. But is it worth while? Recent studies show that prostate cancer screening may not lower mortality. See older post: Still Confusion about the Usefulness of PSA-screening.
• Haiku #6, #7, #8, #9 All about loneliness of patients, miscommunication, the lack of being in control and the lack of privacy. Haiku #8 and #9 are based on my own experience: the man lying next to me wanted to end his life, but was not allowed to. He had to take fluid food. I overheard the conversations between him and his doctors, nurses, a psychiatrist, a dietitian and a priest. Quite embarrassing.

Photo Credits:

• July night at ER http://www.flickr.com/photos/cobalt/1018284405/ (#1)
• Health Care Warfare Narrow: http://www.flickr.com/photos/truthout/3932066708/ (#3, #4)
• Exam: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mkmabus/2910025091/ (#5)
• Phading Doctor Patient Mural : http://www.flickr.com/photos/cbmd/2868594277/ (#6)
• The Patient in the Next Bed: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mynameisharsha/2898004506/ (#8, #9)

 

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