Her oncologist sent her in to the emergency room. The diagnosis was metastatic gallbladder cancer aggressively invading her liver, resulting in liver failure. I went down to the emergency room to see her. She only spoke Bengali, so every conversation required a phone interpreter. As I walked up to the patient’s bed I immediately noticed her jaundiced skin. Bilirubin, or breakdown products of red blood cells, above a certain level causes a yellowing of the eyes, the gums, and the skin where ...
