Surgery
Hip Fractures, an Age-Old, Old Age Misery
In the U.S, there are 300,000 hip fractures a year in people 65 and older, and that number is going up. Hip fractures are painful, debilitating, expensive and life-shortening, yet we barely give them their due as an epidemic we...
Hospital Discharges are like Expeditions to Antarctica: Be Prepared
Millions of older people enter the hospital each year for elective treatment of serious medical issues such as cancer, heart disease, and quality of life surgeries like joint replacement. Like an Antarctic expedition, a successful hospitalization is almost entirely determined...
Deadly Delirium
The day I showed up at the hospital, Pat’s nightmare had been running almost ceaselessly for several weeks. I found him tossing in bed, sweat pouring from his face, as he strained against the cloth ties tethering his wrists to...