Health Story Type: Chapter

The Desperate Son

Witnessing his father's decline from cancer, an oncologist wrestles with his own fears and desperation. The story illustrates what happens when roles are flipped and a health professional finds himself at the centre of a family health crisis. What would you, as a health professional, do when faced with a similar situation? The story could be used to promt discussion about care at end of life and provider-patient communication.

“El sur” por Jorge Luis Borges

"El Sur" follows Juan Dahlmann's journey from a sanatorium on the brink of death due to a head injury. He experiences eight days of intense suffering and pain before his transfer to the sanatorium. Inside, he feels imprisoned and faces the risk of sepsis. His doctor promises a recovery and return to his southern estate. The narrative highlights the impact of physical injury on mental health. Short story appropriate for a Latin American literature course for advanced students; focus on illness and healing brings a different lens to Borges that health-oriented students could appreciate. Available online for free.

Reclamation

This collection of short stories contains a variety of fictional narratives, some more directly related to healthcare than others, but all worth a read. In her foreword, Roxanne Gay characterizes the anthology as one in which “writers imagine what a culture of health might look like. They imagine the dire consequences for humanity if we don’t start building a true, widely accessible culture of health.” One particular story that directly addresses health themes is a graphic narrative entitled “Reclamation” which tells the story of a Native American teenage boy struggling with absent parents, mental health issues, and self harm. One night he decides to run away from home and he encounters a horse, who he follows back to an old Native American man who is sitting in a field. The man asks him what is wrong and he shares his feelings of being lost and alone. The man shares wisdom of how he connected with his identity and heritage by spending time with horses, and starts teaching the boy how to ride a horse. The connection to the horses reveals a significant tie with the land that was taken from Native Americans, as well as a deep sense of community and freedom. We then see a time jump into the future, when the boy has become an elder advisor sharing wisdom just like the man who changed his whole life path, and quite possibly saved his life. It is an inspiring story touching on various important topics such as adolescent mental health, cultural belonging, the connections between cultural trauma and individual health, and how we can overcome obstacles in the most unexpected ways. This story would fit well into a cultural anthropology class, a mental health class, a class on Native American healthcare, or a graphic health narrative class. Because of its short length, it would work best as an in class reading to then discuss afterward. It could also work in conjunction with a more informational reading on Native American ideology or spirituality, or perhaps another story from a different cultural group on how to cope with mental health issues.

Mercy

Through beautiful description and comparison Selzer writes about an interaction between a patient, his doctor, and his family at the end of his life. In the story, the patient is in the hospital, suffering and in pain. This piece serves as the doctor’s narrative, as he, too, suffers in deciding how to ease his patient’s pain, which can only be done by euthanasia. The doctor deliberates back and forth about the options and ultimately gives the patient what should be a fatal dose of morphine, yet still, he does not die. This piece raises questions about medical ethics, listening to patients, listening to families, and making informed decisions in healthcare. This narrative could be used in courses regarding medical ethics, death, medicine, and narrative medicine. This piece could prompt discussion about medical ethics, who gets to make choices, and why certain choices are made in healthcare. It can be used to show the place of creative writing in medicine, as it provides a creative account of an interaction between a doctor and a patient.