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Mark Lewis

@marklewismd

5 Feb

If cancer eventually kills me I don’t want my tombstone to say “FIGHTER”

I want it to state my most obvious characteristic: “RIDICULOUSLY GOOD-LOOKING”

Seriously, this disease already does a lot that robs us of control

But you can decide how best to frame it & define yourself

For instance, I’m a fan of silly GIFs:

Which reminds me: in my opinion, it’s ok to use humor as emotional ballast

Some people ask me: isn’t oncology all doom & gloom?

It is enormously sad

But there is also more light & laughter in my clinic that you might think

Sometimes tone just doesn’t translate on Twitter 🤷🏼‍♂️

Read 4 tweets

Mark Lewis

@marklewismd

1 Jul 20

I have a confession to make.

I've been Tweeting angry.

It's not good social media practice, in general, and it can seem unbecoming of a physician speaking in a public forum.

But allow me to explain

THREAD/

I am angry because I took an oath to protect my patients and everyday I see them needlessly endangered.

It has never been hard to keep them healthy (says the doctor who is routinely -- understandably?! -- accused of being a poisoner).

I am angry because I have sat by the bedside of a dying patient who, other than her healthcare workers, would have been alone in the hospital at her last breaths. The separation from her loved ones was, at first, necessary but hopefully temporary, then became permanent & gaping.

Read 10 tweets

Mark Lewis

@marklewismd

31 May 20

@DavidFajgenbaum

A RARE DISEASE NARRATIVE TWEETORIAL

Today, during an #ASCO20 clinical science symposium, I'm honored to comment as a patient-physician on the meaning of drug development for rare diseases

Inspired by @DavidFajgenbaum (but not half the man he is) I am going to share my own story

It started with a call from the embassy.

We were moving to the U.S. and needed chest X-rays to exclude TB.

My father's CXR showed no concerning cavitation, but his right hemithorax was mysteriously opacified 👇

Within two weeks of arriving in Texas we had secured a cardiothoracic surgeon and my father then underwent a right pneumonectomy. It was an R2 resection and we were told he would need radiation to "lung cancer" remnant in the mediastinum. XRT was brutal and led to esophagitis.

Read 17 tweets

Mark Lewis

@marklewismd

20 Mar 20

So as has been widely reported, personal protective equipment (PPE) is running low for medical personnel during #coronavirus #Covid_19

Today my awesome pediatrician wife & my mother-in-law used at-home materials to sew masks

STEP-BY-STEP TWEETORIAL

1/

They used 100% cotton fabric and cut one 9”x8” rectangle and one 9”x7” rectangle, as well as cutting a pipe cleaner to 6”

2/

Then they applied HeatnBond (soft stretch variety) in an 8” strip centered over the larger rectangle

3/

Read 16 tweets

Mark Lewis

@marklewismd

15 Mar 20

SERIOUS THREAD FROM A DOCTOR

It may be self-evident but if you get such respiratory distress from #COVIDー19 that you are placed on a ventilator, you will be unable to speak.

I know it’s hard but, as you gather with family, tell them what you would want done in that event.

1/

@AARP

Designate a surrogate decision-maker (healthcare proxy).

Better yet, document your wishes through an advance directive.

@AARP has a very helpful website where you can find appropriate forms by state:
aarp.org/caregiving/fin…

2/

You can also complete a POLST form (Physician's Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment). This is not synonymous with an advance directive, and again varies from state to state.

You can learn more here:
polst.org/programs-in-yo…

3/

Read 6 tweets

Mark Lewis

@marklewismd

13 Mar 20

I'm an oncologist and a patient with cancer.

Surely now is the time in America to uncouple employment and healthcare coverage.

In fact, it's long overdue ...

THREAD
1/

For years now, cancer patients have faced double jeopardy: their malignancies have endangered their ability to carry out their pre-morbid jobs, and when they lose those benefits, their treatments become financially toxic, often to the point of bankruptcy.

2/

This is seldom a matter of just forsaking luxuries. I have seen patients struggle to pay their electric bill vs. obtain life-preserving medication.

Through twisted logic, they are sick enough to need treatment, but too sick to maintain the jobs that cover that treatment.

3/

Read 14 tweets

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