Ode to an appendix
You might well be important.
You’re still there,
even though you’re sometimes lethal,
even for young people.
I like to think, though,
that you’re not bad.
Maybe you were overwhelmed.
Maybe your visitor, The Stone,
who I put there, somehow,
was too much for you.
Or maybe you could not handle
my work schedule, like me.
You were kind.
You whispered before you yelled.
And even then, you relented.
I tried to protect you.
I tried to read CODA.
“Patient failed antibiotics.”
I could have done better.
I felt taken
by a way of thinking
that distanced me from you,
My Gut.
I was afraid you might try to murder me,
so, I murdered you first.
I’m sorry.
I wish that
by a surgical error,
some of you might still be there.
Samuel Weisenthal, PhD, MD, MS explores the humanistic implications of statistical frameworks for medical decision-making through essays, poetry, and visual art. He aims to facilitate the application of evidence to medicine in a way that is both rigorous and patient-centered.
More information can be found on his webpage (https://samuelweisenthal.github.io/).