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Lakshman Swamy (he/him)

@laxswamy.bsky.social
4.6K followers 1.7K following 1.1K posts

✒️🫁🥋🎲☕🌱. substack.com/@lswrites/p-185980491

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Lakshman Swamy (he/him) @laxswamy.bsky.social · 03/02/2026
a snippet about the ICU and rounding from my novel. A song that broke my heart and a poem that mended it. and a rant. hope you find something it. open.substack.com/pub/lswrites...
open.substack.com
Think Easy, Light, Smooth, and Fast
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
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Lakshman Swamy (he/him) @laxswamy.bsky.social · 30/01/2026
My second post is about writing as healing, living infinitely in the moment, and this. open.substack.com/pub/lswrites...
Lady macduff in Macbeth just before she and her children are murdered by the state: 

Whither should I fly?
 I have done no harm. But I remember now
 I am in this earthly world, where to do harm
 Is often laudable, to do good sometime
 Accounted dangerous folly. Why then, alas,
 Do I put up that womanly defense
 To say I have done no harm?
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Lakshman Swamy (he/him) @laxswamy.bsky.social · 30/01/2026
My second post is about writing as healing, living infinitely in the moment, and this. open.substack.com/pub/lswrites...
Lady macduff in Macbeth just before she and her children are murdered by the state: 

Whither should I fly?
 I have done no harm. But I remember now
 I am in this earthly world, where to do harm
 Is often laudable, to do good sometime
 Accounted dangerous folly. Why then, alas,
 Do I put up that womanly defense
 To say I have done no harm?
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Reposted by Lakshman Swamy (he/him)
Lakshman Swamy (he/him) @laxswamy.bsky.social · 30/01/2026
hi everyone I do not use bsky much but I am now on substack if you are interested! substack.com/@lswrites/p-...
substack.com
Identity is an eternal question mark
until you die.
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Lakshman Swamy (he/him) @laxswamy.bsky.social · 30/01/2026
hi everyone I do not use bsky much but I am now on substack if you are interested! substack.com/@lswrites/p-...
substack.com
Identity is an eternal question mark
until you die.
011
Lakshman Swamy (he/him) @laxswamy.bsky.social · 30/01/2026
oh it was SO GROSS WHY DID YOU HAVE TO REMIND ME!! hahaha
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Rana Awdish MD @ranaawdish.bsky.social · 21/10/2025
#CHEST2025 After Hours live storytelling event was 🔥🔥🔥 with baby gorillas and tales of being lost at sea and near drowning and break dancing! @chriscarrollmd.com @avrahamcoopermd.bsky.social @laxswamy.bsky.social
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Lakshman Swamy (he/him) @laxswamy.bsky.social · 20/06/2025
The corporate perception of imagination: it needs clarity and focus 🙃
"staying active is a powerful source of drive. It strengthens our bodies and lights up our minds - bringing clarity and focus to our imagination"
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Lakshman Swamy (he/him) @laxswamy.bsky.social · 17/06/2025
Sharing at my first ever workshop this week! #amwriting
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Alice Blanchard @alicebooks333.bsky.social · 11/06/2025
Try not to compare yourself to other authors. Writing's a long game, and other writers are looking at you wishing they could be where you are. So keep going, we're in this together. #5amwritersclub #amwriting #writerslife #WIP #poetry #wattpad #amreading #writingcommunity #writerscommunity
media.tenor.com
a group of people standing in a living room with pretty shows on the bottom right
ALT: a group of people standing in a living room with pretty shows on the bottom right
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Lakshman Swamy (he/him) @laxswamy.bsky.social · 12/06/2025
I try to remember that even the person i was a year ago is looking at me that way. But it is easy to forget 😅
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Faye Rapoport DesPres @fayerd.bsky.social · 12/06/2025
Good morning, #5amwritersclub. I just received this link to my six-sentence story published today in Gooseberry Pie Literary Journal today. Enjoy (and remember: you don’t always have to write thousands of words). gooseberry-pie.com/survivors-ki... #microfiction #flash
gooseberry-pie.com
Survivors’ Kids At Carcassonne - Gooseberry Pie Lit Magazine
Photo by Mak on Unsplash by Faye Rapoport DesPres At Carcassonne we bought cheese and baguettes and stuffed them into our backpacks. We’d arrived overnight on a Paris train, weary from sleeping in a c...
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Carolyn Barber, MD @cbarbermd.bsky.social · 03/06/2025
He needed air. The price was $539. When OptumRx dropped coverage of his $66 inhaler, Cole couldn’t afford the new price. 5 days later, he died from a severe asthma attack—with no inhaler. He paid with his life. www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news... #MedSky #SciSky #PedsSky #PulmSky
nbcnews.com
22-year-old dies after being unable to afford asthma inhaler
In our new series “The Cost of Denial,” NBC News’ Anne Thompson reports on the young man who went to refill his asthma inhaler only to find it unaffordable because it was no longer covered by his insu...
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Lakshman Swamy (he/him) @laxswamy.bsky.social · 01/06/2025
I just read this and loved it, and learned so much. I am a better reader now. A Swim in a Pond in the Rain: In Which Four Russians Give a Master Class on Writing, Reading, and Life g.co/kgs/FPaMFbq
g.co
Google Search
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Lakshman Swamy (he/him) @laxswamy.bsky.social · 30/05/2025
Never underestimate rage
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Dr. Annie Andrews @drannieandrews.com · 29/05/2025
This is going to be a different type of campaign. Because when you’re going after Medicaid and even ripping food away from hungry kids, all to cut taxes for donors and corporate lobbyists, we’re not pulling punches. I hope you’ll join us: secure.actblue.com/donate/loc_a...
secure.actblue.com
Elect Annie Andrews
Donate to send Annie to the Senate!
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Dr. Annie Andrews @drannieandrews.com · 29/05/2025
I'm Dr. Annie Andrews. I’m a pediatrician, not a politician. But either way I know how to handle people who are full of sh*t. Today I am announcing my campaign for US Senate to replace Lindsey Graham. Share this if you're with me. www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8wM...
youtube.com
Annie Andrews Launch Video: "Unafraid"
YouTube video by Annie Andrews
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Lakshman Swamy (he/him) @laxswamy.bsky.social · 28/05/2025
Exactly. And then they get a bit older and you get a good stretch and boom it happens again and you're set entirely back.
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Ed @notdred.bsky.social · 28/05/2025
I’m not trapped in rounds with you, you’re trapped in rounds with me
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Lakshman Swamy (he/him) @laxswamy.bsky.social · 28/05/2025
Do i take my gorgeous home made food to the resident workroom and ask them why on earth they're eating the cafeteria garbage? Yes, because i am literally the worst.
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Emily Moin @emilymoin.com · 27/05/2025
If you ask medical intensivists which types of admissions scare us the most, I would guess the most common answer would be pregnant patients (followed by status asthmaticus, which is a separate conversation). Pursuing any policy that increases risk of severe disease in pregnant people is insane.
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Lakshman Swamy (he/him) @laxswamy.bsky.social · 26/05/2025
💯 all i see is politics which is the same as everywhere else so no real value.
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Lakshman Swamy (he/him) @laxswamy.bsky.social · 26/05/2025
I think it is not going to be what it was and that is ok. I am glad we had what we did while we did.
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Critical Care Reviews @criticalcarereviews.com · 25/05/2025
In memory of professor Rinaldo Bellomo: A giant of intensive care medicine CCR Journal Watch - tracking the critical care literature daily doi.org/10.1016/j.ccrj.2025.100110
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Lakshman Swamy (he/him) @laxswamy.bsky.social · 25/05/2025
It requires more people posting which isn't happening w/o traction, which won't happen without posting, etc. I don't know if it is worth all that work tbh.
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Lakshman Swamy (he/him) @laxswamy.bsky.social · 25/05/2025
Are there effective feeds on bsky? Yes. Could someone make a more generally interesting medsky feed? Maybe. It isn't easy to bring together so many broad interests - the biggest med journals don't really achieve that either.
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Lakshman Swamy (he/him) @laxswamy.bsky.social · 25/05/2025
The feed isn't focused at all. Twitter had a strong clinician focus which is lacking here. Too much is research or really just too political -- which is everywhere anyway. The feed doesn't work for me.
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Lakshman Swamy (he/him) @laxswamy.bsky.social · 25/05/2025
Yeah, the engagement is so weak here.
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Lakshman Swamy (he/him) @laxswamy.bsky.social · 19/05/2025
I'm at NTI if anyone is here!
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josh farkas 💊 @pulmcrit.bsky.social · 17/05/2025
You intubate a patient smoothly with roc & ketamine After connection with the vent: - oxygen saturation is 98% - etCO2 tracing & values are normal - breath sounds are symmetric the vent starts alarming for a 60% air leak you ascultate the neck & cannot hear a leak what is happening? #1/2 #EMIMCC
media.tenor.com
a man in a tie is standing in front of a sign that says `` what is going on ? ''
ALT: a man in a tie is standing in front of a sign that says `` what is going on ? ''
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Lakshman Swamy (he/him) @laxswamy.bsky.social · 13/05/2025
My friend (icu nurse) and his wife wrote this for the globe. They were finalists for the Pulitzer for the series! apps.bostonglobe.com/opinion/grap...
apps.bostonglobe.com
True stories from an ICU: Was it right to keep her alive?
An ICU nurse explores the impact of end-of-life care in an illustrated opinion piece.
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Don De Tina @donnyd.bsky.social · 13/05/2025
A more artistic expression of moral injury, I have never seen.
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Lakshman Swamy (he/him) @laxswamy.bsky.social · 13/05/2025
It is part of a series! I will try to get the other links.
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mothman the wanderer @gnostichippie.bsky.social · 13/05/2025
this is a lovely little comic about how icu nursing can (will?) require you to violate your own ethics
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Lakshman Swamy (he/him) @laxswamy.bsky.social · 13/05/2025
My friend (icu nurse) and his wife wrote this for the globe. They were finalists for the Pulitzer for the series! apps.bostonglobe.com/opinion/grap...
apps.bostonglobe.com
True stories from an ICU: Was it right to keep her alive?
An ICU nurse explores the impact of end-of-life care in an illustrated opinion piece.
091
Lakshman Swamy (he/him) @laxswamy.bsky.social · 01/05/2025
So sorry to hear. Looking forward to what comes next, I'm sure it will be great!
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Deanna Behrens, MD | PedsICU @deannamarie208.bsky.social · 29/04/2025
I also think phrasing matters. When we hit certain milestones, we do sometimes get a party, but happens after a hitting a goal, and the perception is not that we are doing it for a party. If they asked me to do QI to get a party, it would not be an incentive
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Deanna Behrens, MD | PedsICU @deannamarie208.bsky.social · 29/04/2025
The other problem with any kind of party is that only a minority of people in the unit are on when it happens. And would need to make sure to cover both day and night shifts.
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Deanna Behrens, MD | PedsICU @deannamarie208.bsky.social · 29/04/2025
Interesting! I have not had this happen, but I do not think that would be a motivation for me. I would feel a little offended by a gift card, but I cannot articulate why. We do sometimes get pizza parties, but it's not linked to efficiency Not aware of any literature, though!
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Chris Worsham @chrisworsham.com · 29/04/2025
What, are you too good for a crisp $5 gift card to Dunkin?
media.tenor.com
a man with a beard is sitting at a table with a cup in his hand .
ALT: a man with a beard is sitting at a table with a cup in his hand .
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Lakshman Swamy (he/him) @laxswamy.bsky.social · 29/04/2025
Getting a gift card or pizza party as a reward for clinical efficiency can feel cheap and devalue the intrinsic motivation. Have you experienced this? anyone aware of any literature on the topic? @iwashyna.bsky.social @deannamarie208.bsky.social @nursekelsey.bsky.social or others?
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Lakshman Swamy (he/him) @laxswamy.bsky.social · 27/04/2025
Added @yessir-icanbougie.bsky.social @matdesgro.bsky.social @lferrantemd.bsky.social @intensivemd.bsky.social @aboyle.bsky.social @alaurx.bsky.social!
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Lakshman Swamy (he/him) @laxswamy.bsky.social · 27/04/2025
A classic www.sfu.ca/~palys/Miner...
sfu.ca
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Lakshman Swamy (he/him) @laxswamy.bsky.social · 24/04/2025
The little things.
Dead birds are little things. 
On the sidewalk, or in the park
You pass them without pause 
As a child, though, 
Dead bird? the world stopped turning.
Maybe you asked
Can we save it, mom?
Brought broken wings home
And your parents-
They gave it life!
Gave it flight and freedom 
Gave it the breath of God
The lies of parents are little things too.
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Lakshman Swamy (he/him) @laxswamy.bsky.social · 24/04/2025
The little things.
Dead birds are little things. 
On the sidewalk, or in the park
You pass them without pause 
As a child, though, 
Dead bird? the world stopped turning.
Maybe you asked
Can we save it, mom?
Brought broken wings home
And your parents-
They gave it life!
Gave it flight and freedom 
Gave it the breath of God
The lies of parents are little things too.
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Reposted by Lakshman Swamy (he/him)
Kevin Hearne @kevinhearne.bsky.social · 23/04/2025
I’m not on it but Kimberly checks the neighbourhood Facebook page once a week and gives me the tea. This week: Somebody is mad that someone picked up their dog’s deuce, bagged it, and put it in their trash can which was out for collection. This was, apparently, very close to an act of war
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Lakshman Swamy (he/him) @laxswamy.bsky.social · 23/04/2025
The last days always seem to come without warning. Without consent.
The Last Days
May your last days be filled 
with bitter antiseptic
invading every pore, every orifice 
clinging to long nose hairs
stinging eyes. Ears ringing 
shrill beeps and alarms
reminding you too often
of machines prolonging your misery. 
May you drown in the hazy gloom
punctuated only by needles
Sharp and sudden!
Without warning 
Without consent.
Your bowel and bladder 
no longer yours to command.
May you lay in your waste for hours
being noticed is a fading memory. 
With hollow bones and leaden limbs,
hard plastic in the softest places
pink and chafing, bleeding and burning
May wilting flowers never be replaced.
May your loved ones pour their warmth
on photographs, so far from your heart.

These are the blessings we shower on our American parents. 
LS
The Last Days
May your last days be filled 
with bitter antiseptic
invading every pore, every orifice 
clinging to long nose hairs
stinging eyes. Ears ringing 
shrill beeps and alarms
reminding you too often
of machines prolonging your misery. 
May you drown in the hazy gloom
punctuated only by needles
Sharp and sudden!
Without warning 
Without consent.
Your bowel and bladder 
no longer yours to command.
May you lay in your waste for hours
being noticed is a fading memory. 
With hollow bones and leaden limbs,
hard plastic in the softest places
pink and chafing, bleeding and burning
May wilting flowers never be replaced.
May your loved ones pour their warmth
on photographs, so far from your heart.

These are the blessings we shower on our American parents. 
LS
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Lakshman Swamy (he/him) @laxswamy.bsky.social · 23/04/2025
The last days always seem to come without warning. Without consent.
The Last Days
May your last days be filled 
with bitter antiseptic
invading every pore, every orifice 
clinging to long nose hairs
stinging eyes. Ears ringing 
shrill beeps and alarms
reminding you too often
of machines prolonging your misery. 
May you drown in the hazy gloom
punctuated only by needles
Sharp and sudden!
Without warning 
Without consent.
Your bowel and bladder 
no longer yours to command.
May you lay in your waste for hours
being noticed is a fading memory. 
With hollow bones and leaden limbs,
hard plastic in the softest places
pink and chafing, bleeding and burning
May wilting flowers never be replaced.
May your loved ones pour their warmth
on photographs, so far from your heart.

These are the blessings we shower on our American parents. 
LS
The Last Days
May your last days be filled 
with bitter antiseptic
invading every pore, every orifice 
clinging to long nose hairs
stinging eyes. Ears ringing 
shrill beeps and alarms
reminding you too often
of machines prolonging your misery. 
May you drown in the hazy gloom
punctuated only by needles
Sharp and sudden!
Without warning 
Without consent.
Your bowel and bladder 
no longer yours to command.
May you lay in your waste for hours
being noticed is a fading memory. 
With hollow bones and leaden limbs,
hard plastic in the softest places
pink and chafing, bleeding and burning
May wilting flowers never be replaced.
May your loved ones pour their warmth
on photographs, so far from your heart.

These are the blessings we shower on our American parents. 
LS
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Lakshman Swamy (he/him) @laxswamy.bsky.social · 22/04/2025
Thank you Gretchen.
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