His kidney harbored a cancer and it needed to be removed. As a first year surgeon-in-training, I was consenting him for surgery at the Veterans Hospital in Philadelphia. Unlike most patients, he was unusually calm as I talked him through the procedure and its potentially life threatening complications. At one point, he gently put his...Continue reading
Category: Military
A trip to the White House
It was a “seminal” event, and by White House invitation. The topic? The future of men’s health. Why are men medically underserved in America? What cultural factors are at play that we can change? Who should be involved? Seeds of Change An impressive array of stakeholders was present for the dialogue. Hats off to the...Continue reading
Ghost Mothers and Ghost Lovers
Editor’s note: This post is part 3 in a 3 part series on the Mother-Son dynamic. Click here for the other posts in the series. The child who finds out, all too abruptly and too soon, that he cannot count on his mother’s strength to be there for him . . . feels he has only...
Dr. David Gremillion discusses veterans and sexual issues
Brandon Leonard, MA, the Strategic Initiatives Director of the Men’s Health Network interviews David Gremillion, MD, FACP, Emeritus Professor of Medicine, University of North Carolina School of Medicine and Member of the Men’s Health Network Board of Directors. Video by MHNMedia
FROZEN
October 26, 2010 is a date that radically changed my life forever. It was my mother’s 80th birthday and I planned a big party for her in Mexico. We had lots of wonderful food. I made arrangements for a mariachi band to sing her favorite romantic ballads or boleros and I ordered 80 red roses...
PTSD: Affects Vets’ Spouses Too
According to the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), about 25 percent of vets returning from the recent conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq are suffering from PTSD. That’s about 500,000 veterans. If we include family members, that number more than doubles. Not surprisingly, returning veterans—particularly those with PTSD—have a higher divorce rate than non-veterans. And...Continue reading
What’s Happening to Our War and Sports Heroes?
With the deployment of US soldiers to Iraq and Afghanistan in the past decade and the recent untimely deaths of professional athletes, such as Junior Seau and Derek Boogaard, the problems with traumatic brain injury are quickly becoming a major issue discussed on a daily basis. Traumatic Brain Injury, most commonly referred to as TBI,...Continue reading
Veterans Options for Aging
Many seniors who are veterans can no longer care for themselves but have no other option except to enter a long term care nursing facility. Many refuse this type of lifestyle change, as do many non-veterans, and decide to try to go it alone with little or no help to keep them healthy and safe....Continue reading
April is Alcohol Awareness Month
I am always intrigued by the process by which patients can be admitted to a hospital with one or another sequella of either binge drinking or chronic alcoholism and the can get a mega-workup for the evaluation and management of their symptoms without anyone ever having asked them “Why do you drink?”