307: Powerful Perspectives -- Casey's paralysis & Dr. Lyon's return from Haiti

This episode, which aired on February 14, 2010, is now available on iTunes!

We kicked off Episode 307 by hearing once again from our official Haiti correspondent, Dr. Evan Lyon from Partners in Health (PIH). Dr. Lyon has been a volunteer physician with Partners in Health / Zanmi Lasante for over a decade, spending much of his time at clinics in Haiti. He was part of PIH’s initial efforts to respond to the earthquake on January 12, 2010, and we spoke to him in Episode 303 while he was en route to Port-au-Prince. Now back in the United States, Dr. Lyon shared with us what he saw and experienced, while also offering his thoughts on the future of the relief efforts. Dr. Lyon eloquently conveys the images from Haiti that both haunt and motivate him, and we appreciate him joining us on Radio Rounds for the third time.

In this episode, we also continued our documentary series featuring powerful bedside interviews with patients at the Haslinger Family Pediatric Palliative Care Center at Akron Children’s Hospital in Akron, Ohio. This week, we hear from Casey — a 13 year old boy who experienced back pain one day at school, visited the ER that evening, and was never able to walk out of the hospital after an apparent spinal cord injury resulted in paralysis. Nevertheless, Casey remains strong, showing perspective well beyond his years, and in this incredible segment, he and his mother choose to focus on all things positive. We learned that Casey is becoming a star sled hockey player (listen to the podcast if you want to know what sled hockey is!), and as he said himself, “Life’s not going to stop for you.”

Finally, in this week’s residency segment, we heard from Dr. Lenny Feldman and Dr. Rosalyn Stewart, Co-Directors of the Internal Medicine/Pediatrics residency program at Johns Hopkins University.