Call For Stories

My class this semester started on Monday, my second in the Department of Bioethics. It is called The Call of Stories: Using Narratives in Medical Ethics and it explores the role of medical narratives (illness stories), in the field of bioethics. As you might guess, it is right up my alley, being a combination of philosophical and literary approaches and so far, I love it. The class is composed of extremely interesting people: some med students, a veterinarian, some lawyers, a medical journalist, a few practicing physicians and taught by a visiting scholar who was in another life, a medical malpractice lawyer. I had to lobby long and hard to get into the class since it was outside of the School of Arts and Sciences but it was worth it.

Anyway, we are supposed to be thinking about our research projects for the semester and I hope to draw upon the wealth of information I have accumulated about Barbaro. In many ways, the Barbaro story can be viewed as an extremely compelling medical narrative, made even more interesting by the fact that the patient undergoing the illness could not of course tell it. Barbaro's tale was relayed by many interpretors, if you will, and each one probably put his/her own spin on it.

But what I find even more interesting is the fact that many people who were drawn to the Barbaro tale were in the midst of crafting medical narratives of their own. Some may have been recently diagnosed with illness, undergoing treatment or recovering from surgery. I wonder whether they saw in Barbaro a kindred spirit, a patient who was experiencing a medical crisis of his own and were inspired by his attempts to heal.

Of course this is all very complicated because we will never truly know how Barbaro himself felt because he couldn't tell us, but I think his interpretors were pretty savvy in horse communication. Assuming this to be true, I am wondering if any of you were attracted to the Barbaro tale because you yourself were in the midst of your own medical narrative and you looked to him for guidance, support and perhaps even inspiration.

I posted a call for stories on the Alex Brown web site and have received some fascinating tales. If you have one that you would like to share as part of my research, please leave me a comment and I will email you. You could also do this via Alex Brown's discussion board if you wish.

Please know that this is preliminary research for a topic that might change. I would, of course, change your names and keep all of your contact information confidential if I do decide to pursue it. I do not mean to diminish any one else's efforts at gathering these stories; what I am looking for at this point is fairly specific.

If you think you fit the bill, I would love to hear from you.