Durham, NC – My latest graphic medicine piece was published last week, and I’m grateful to Topic magazine for giving this story a platform. I tried hard to capture the pain and grit of one of the hard decisions that patients and doctors are forced to make in the midst of life-threatening illness. While I believe strongly […]
Read More Finding Humanity in Medicine’s High-Tech Death Ritual…Here are a few recent Palliative Care cartoons from the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management and AAHPM Quarterly! I’m grateful, and still a bit surprised, to have my scatterbrained cartoons featured in respectable publications… Images copyright ©2018 Nathan A. Gray
Read More Flute Music, Existential Distress, and Sloppy Surgeons…N. Gray, MD I’ve definitely said my share of words that weren’t helpful in fragile moments with people who were suffering. Learning to be present without pity, preaching, or patronizing is an art that requires the ability to put yourself in someone else’s shoes and hear your words with their ears. I find I’ve rarely […]
Read More Empathy: The Throw Pillow Rule of Thumb…N. Gray, MD I have witnessed many code status discussions — good, bad, and ugly. Here is a smattering of the “not-so-pretty” code conversation patterns. Keep reading to the end for a suggestion on a better approach… The Menu: This approach leaves patients to pick from an overwhelming array of interventions (pressors, shocks, tubes), some of […]
Read More How do YOU discuss Code Status? Cartoons of Common TrapsGet those consults in! Early palliative care is evidence-based…
Read More Early Palliative Care is Better…
The Ink Vessel 