“We Can Do It!” – World War II poster

Posted on August 17, 2017 by Marsely Kehoe, PhD |

This poster has inspired women in the United States since the 1980s, with its message of strength and its suggestion that women can succeed in a man’s world. Rolling up the sleeve of a men’s type workshirt to flex her bicep, her hair tied out of the way in the iconic red-and-white polka-dot kerchief, glaring at us through long lashes, she is both beautiful and fierce. The poster was originally commissioned by the Westinghouse Electric Corporation, from graphic designer J….

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Rock N Roll in the OR

Posted on August 15, 2017 by John Kehoe |

                    There are sounds in the operating room: the clash of instruments, the rhythmic breathing of a patient on a ventilator, the EKG tracing beeping away, the cacophony of laconic orders and requests from the surgeon or the scrub nurse. I suppose every surgeon wants to think he or she is making music while operating—a symphony, a rock opera, a silly little love song, a ballad with deep meaning. The presence of…

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Apoptosis–Falling Leaves in Autumn

Posted on July 25, 2017 by John Kehoe |

I loved the word APOPTOSIS when I first heard it applied to cancer treatment. It was the aPOPtosis pronunciation that caught my attention as I imagined cancer cells exploding from chemotherapy and champagne corks aPOPing in celebration. I was so wrong. I still love the word, but its meaning is far less dramatic than I initially thought. Its Greek origin is obvious, but the proper pronunciation erases its onomatopoetic oomph. If the second “p” is silent, as it should be, then…

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An Old Italian Man and the Modern Surgeon

Posted on June 14, 2017 by John Kehoe |

The operation didn’t go so well. No big problems or catastrophes, but just a series of small missteps by the staff. Instruments were not in the room, suture material wasn’t on the field, nurses didn’t understand my routines, and my assistant wasn’t too responsive. Granted, it was a new crew and I was patient with them, but we just plodded along with neither rhythm nor efficiency. In the end the operation was a success, but it wasn’t pretty. Annoyed, I…

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No Curtain Calls, No Tony Nominations

Posted on May 29, 2017 by John Kehoe |

It is called the operating room. In past times and in some circles it might be called the operating theater. If you are British, you might call it the operating theatre. One has visions of the Thomas Eakins painting “The Agnew Clinic” where an operation–interestingly, a partial mastectomy–plays out in an amphitheater- like setting. We don’t know if it’s “in the round.” The seats are occupied by the surgeon’s colleagues and curious students. The painter even managed to put himself…

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The Sorcerer’s Scalpel and Paperboys in Early Morning Hours

Posted on May 21, 2017 by John Kehoe |

  A 7;30 start in the operating room. How I love 7:30 starts. On the highway to the operating room at 6:30. I won’t be late. I respect the hour. The city is still asleep. Not much traffic. It was an easy drive.  I thought about the days of my surgical training. The surgical team would arrive in the hospital by 6 AM for rounds, catching up with the night’s events and planning the needed tasks for the day. Then,…

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Science and the Artful Clinician on Science Day

Posted on April 23, 2017 by John Kehoe |

Yesterday (April 22) was Earth Day or Science Day or some combination of the two. There were marches supporting Science which is a little like marches supporting motherhood. Whatever political agenda may be in play here, I have no problem supporting Science and certainly in the work I do as a physician. For the past forty years that I have been in the medical field I have heard numerous complaints about the American healthcare system. Actually, over those forty years,…

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Breast Cancer Surgeons Unprotected and Vulnerable

Posted on April 1, 2017 by John Kehoe |

We Breast Cancer Surgeons are unprotected and vulnerable. We treat breast cancer and protect vulnerable women from the ravages of the disease. Yet we ourselves cannot avoid the awful calamities of life. No better example of this was the recent death of Dr. Jan Huston-Pryor, a Breast Cancer Surgeon from New Jersey. I didn’t know her personally, but knew of her. She was walking her dog one morning recently and was struck by a car and killed. Coincidentally, Dr. Jeanne…

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Breast Cancer on the Run in October: (Day 31) Synergy, Everyone and Everything

Posted on October 31, 2016 by John Kehoe |

The previous 30 posts were randomly arranged. I suppose I could have ordered them on a chronological timeline, but I don’t think it would have been as interesting.

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Breast Cancer on the Run in October: (Day 30) Breast Cancer and the Women’s Liberation Movement

Posted on October 30, 2016 by John Kehoe |

I started this series talking about the role of women in offering support to breast cancer victims, raising awareness about the disease, putting pressure on the medical establishment to change, and raising money for research.

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