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From the Jungle to the Operating Room

9 Feb 2024

This article was first published in the Montreal Gazette....

Not A Laughing Matter

25 Oct 2023

When I was growing up, “looning” meant one thing. You would fill a balloon with water and throw it at a target that usually did not welcome such activity. Today, “looning” has taken on another...

Knocked Out, Put Under, Anesthetized and Sedated: Different Types of Anesthesia

27 Apr 2020

If you’ve read the article I wrote about why patients are allowed to drink clear fluids but not eat before surgery you’ll know that I recently had surgery to repair the ACL and meniscus in my left...

Why Am I Allowed to Drink Clear Fluids Before Surgery, but Not Eat?

22 Apr 2020

While preparing for my recent knee surgery I was given a lot of instructions. Where to park, how to dress, when to arrive, what to bring and even what (not) to eat and drink. Like many surgical...

Living With Half a Brain: Phineas Gage

31 Jul 2018

The Warren Medical Museum in Boston is a fascinating place, named after Dr. John Collins Warren who performed the first surgery under ether anesthesia in 1846. On view is the actual flask that...

James Simpson, Chloroform Pioneer, Took the Pain Away

20 Mar 2017

The experiment, James Simpson decided, would go ahead even though the rabbits had died. And that decision was destined to have such a huge impact on medicine that more than 100,000 grateful Scots...

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