How would an ophthalmologist respond when faced with death?
How does any of this relate to ophthalmology? In our offices, we don’t face dramatic this-or-that moments of choice that define us in the way these young men were defined by their decision. For ophthalmologists there is always only one option-to do whatever is in the best interest of our patients.
By Peter J. McDonnell, MD
“Love handles,” according to the McGraw-Hill Concise Dictionary of Modern Medicine, is “the popular term for the bilateral overhangs of fat and soft tissue on the anterolateral flank common in older men.” As a member of the community of older men, I feel it is also a more charitable name.
To try to keep my own overhangs from approximating in size the Goodyear blimp, I exercise on a treadmill. Because I detest exercise for its own sake, I distract myself with a blasting television. This morning, my attention was distracted by “Morning Joe” on MSNBC, in which a former congressman and his posse opine on current events.
Dr. McDonnell
A big current event this morning was the three American men who, while traveling together for fun in Europe, encountered a terrorist toting an automatic rifle and knife on a train from Amsterdam to Paris. Faced with the choice of crouching behind their seats or attacking their would-be assailant, they rushed the 10 m-French trains use the metric system-to tackle and subdue him, with only their bare hands as weapons. One of the resisting passengers was stabbed in the neck and hand for his trouble, with his thumb reportedly being “almost severed.”
French President François Hollande awarded them the Legion of Honor. “Your heroism must be an example for many and a source of inspiration,” he said.
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