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Mapping the end . . .

For years, doctors have been encouraging patients to plan ahead for the end of their lives. Unfortunately, even the best laid plans don’t always match the realities we face when our time grows short. People change their minds, values shift, and sometimes serious illness doesn’t look like what someone imagined. Despite the twists and turns […]

Being a Telepatient

A brief guide for patients becoming a telepatient for their next video visit.

Blood or Tears

Why do we doctors feel more comfortable with blood than with tears?

The Weight of Caring at Home

I wrote/drew this opinion piece for the LA Times two years ago, right before COVID drastically changed the landscape of… well, everything. Unfortunately, care for seriously ill loved ones has not gotten any easier during the pandemic, and patients and families still often struggle to meet the demands of illness in their living rooms. Now […]

Closing a Chapter

DURHAM, NC – When it comes to updating a website, I landed on Santa’s lump-of-coal list for yet another year. In my defense, it’s been a busy one. Apart from the usual pandemic chaos which continues to upend all of our lives, my spouse Bethany and I, along with our loyal pup Lily, have been […]

A New Season…?

As still another season dawns in this blur of a year, it’s been wonderful to see our COVID case counts fall here and to watch some of our hospital COVID units being converted back to regular medical wards. While we also keep a wary eye on the numbers and advocate for patients and places around […]

Medical Purgatory

As patients with COVID continue to fill emergency departments around the country, our ICU’s are increasingly filling with patients who are trapped in the hospital from complications of the virus. My latest illustrated Op-Ed for the LA Times highlights the plight of those trapped in medical purgatory. See the article HERE. Nathan A. Gray, MD.

The Pandemic Draws On

It’s been a busy year, so in one sweep, I’m going to catch my InkVessel site up to date on the art I’ve made in the last 6 months: First, amid the torrent of angst all of us were feeling about the early days of the outbreak, I produced this piece for the L.A. Times […]

Before the pandemic, U.S. healthcare already had a crisis.

Latest illustrated essay is here on Medium… Below are the first few frames. Click here to go to Medium and keep reading.

Palliative Care in the Time of COVID

“As we take stock of masks, gloves, and ventilators, we must also be ready to dig deep into our reserves of patience, communication, and compassion.” Nathan A. Gray, MD