Post Author: Francisco M. Torres, MD
Francisco M. Torres is an interventional physiatrist specializing in diagnosing and treating patients with spine-related pain syndromes. He is certified by the American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and the American Board of Pain Medicine and can be reached at Florida Spine Institute and Wellness.
Dr. Torres was born in Spain and grew up in Puerto Rico. He graduated from the University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine. Dr. Torres performed his physical medicine and rehabilitation residency at the Veterans Administration Hospital in San Juan before completing a musculoskeletal fellowship at Louisiana State University Medical Center in New Orleans. He served three years as a clinical instructor of medicine and assistant professor at LSU before joining Florida Spine Institute in Clearwater, Florida, where he is the medical director of the Wellness Program.
Dr. Torres is an interventional physiatrist specializing in diagnosing and treating patients with spine-related pain syndromes. He is certified by the American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and the American Board of Pain Medicine. He is a prolific writer and primarily interested in preventative medicine. He works with all of his patients to promote overall wellness.
Francisco M. Torres is an interventional physiatrist specializing in diagnosing and treating patients with spine-related pain syndromes. He is certified by the American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and the American Board of Pain Medicine and can be reached at Florida Spine Institute and Wellness.
Dr. Torres was born in Spain and grew up in Puerto Rico. He graduated from the University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine. Dr. Torres performed his physical medicine and rehabilitation residency at the Veterans Administration Hospital in San Juan before completing a musculoskeletal fellowship at Louisiana State University Medical Center in New Orleans. He served three years as a clinical instructor of medicine and assistant professor at LSU before joining Florida Spine Institute in Clearwater, Florida, where he is the medical director of the Wellness Program.
Dr. Torres is an interventional physiatrist specializing in diagnosing and treating patients with spine-related pain syndromes. He is certified by the American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and the American Board of Pain Medicine. He is a prolific writer and primarily interested in preventative medicine. He works with all of his patients to promote overall wellness.
As physicians, we spend our careers believing that if we gather enough data, follow the guidelines, and monitor closely, we can stay one step ahead of disease. We reassure patients that early detection saves lives. We quote statistics, interpret lab values, and project confidence. Nothing dismantles that illusion of control quite like becoming a patient.
I have written before about my prostate cancer journey, before the surgery, after the surgery, and …
Read more…
It has been six months since my robotic-assisted radical prostatectomy, and I find myself suspended in a strange middle space, grateful to be cancer-free, yet still struggling with a question I cannot fully answer: Is it safe for me to restart testosterone replacement therapy?
Before my diagnosis, testosterone replacement was not just a prescription; it was a restoration. I have lived with hypogonadism for years, and TRT helped me regain the …
Read more…
I’ve spent my entire professional life practicing medicine, guiding patients through uncertainty, and translating complex science into actionable information that could be clearly understood. I thought I had a solid grasp on what it meant to face illness. I thought I knew how to navigate the medical maze and interpret all the jargon.
Nothing prepared me for the moment when I became a patient.
The diagnosis was prostate cancer.
Suddenly, I wasn’t the …
Read more…
At its best, the doctor-patient relationship is an intimate one. Often, our patients appear before us in the most vulnerable moments of their lives. We treat their diseases, but we also tend to their emotional and spiritual well-being. That kind of intimacy can be meaningful and rewarding, but it can also breed awkward and even potentially compromising interactions. That is particularly true when money gets involved.
Despite widespread dissatisfaction with the …
Read more…
I grew up hearing stories about my grandfather, Dr. Luis Torres Díaz, the way some children hear stories about national heroes. In our family, he was one of them. He was not a war hero or political figure but a quiet, thoughtful, and brilliant scientist. My grandfather was a chemist, a poet, a professor, a dean, a museum founder, a man whose life seemed to stretch across disciplines with an …
Read more…
“Doc, I’ve seen enough doctors. I only trust you. I want you to do my knee replacement and fix my heart.”
I heard the conviction in his voice when I heard these words from this patient. Sitting across from me was a 76-year-old army veteran I had cared for over two decades. He had seen multiple specialists, endured countless consultations, and, in the end, he wanted me, the physician who had …
Read more…
This past summer, I was diagnosed with prostate cancer. For more than three decades, I have taught, examined, and guided patients through various types of illnesses. However, nothing prepared me for the disorienting effect of becoming a patient myself. The diagnosis itself (a less aggressive prostate cancer amenable to robot-assisted radical prostatectomy) felt, at first, like a technical problem with a straightforward surgical solution. But what I did not fully …
Read more…
As a parent and a doctor of nearly four decades, I’ve often found myself navigating the rugged terrain of a dual existence: the life of a devoted physician, and the life of a dedicated parent. I have not always succeeded in both arenas. My wife and I both bear the weight of our professions, drawn into the noble yet demanding world of medicine. Our missions and ambitions, while fulfilling, have …
Read more…
The pilgrimage of my dreams included a suitcase full of diapers, extra pants, and a quiet prayer for dignity. Italy has always been a dream destination for me. As a Catholic, I consider Rome the Holy City of my faith, and this year’s Jubilee motivated me to visit the four Holy Doors. I also love art and culture, and Italy is home to many historic sites and great works of …
Read more…
At any given time, about five percent of men and nine percent of women, just like you and me, suffer from incontinence. This means that they cannot hold their urine or feces until they reach a bathroom. In other words, that affects one in twenty men and one in ten women. Incontinence in adults can be caused by old age, injury, neuromuscular disorders, and cancer, to name some of …
Read more…
My recent experience as a cancer patient has illuminated many things. It has shown me how our health care system is not standardized and how it sometimes makes patient care decisions based on financial incentives or convenience rather than patient preferences or best clinical practice. Take, for example, the topic of sedation.
The question of whether to sedate is common in pain management, which often involves invasive intraspinal procedures such as …
Read more…
I recently wrote about my experience of becoming a patient and how that change in role transformed my perspective as a doctor. But, in that article, I did not share that the reason I had become a patient was that I was undergoing a biopsy for potential prostate cancer.
In preparation for the procedure, the doctor reassured me that the outlook was good and that he did not expect to …
Read more…
Recently, I found myself in need of surgery, a situation I had not faced in many years. The vulnerability I experienced as a patient was more intense than I ever anticipated. Despite my role as a doctor who often considers patients’ emotional well-being, I felt this. This experience brought me face-to-face with the emotional challenges that patients face in a new way. This perspective is crucial for all health care …
Read more…
As a pain management specialist, I have often found that the course of treatment for a patient requires a careful balance of many factors before making a recommendation. But sometimes, the best course seems obvious. That was the case with Mr. Bautista (name replaced to protect identity). He was an older gentleman, and his imaging scans showed spinal stenosis that was likely to lead to nerve pain. And what was …
Read more…
As a pain management physician, I often receive requests to authorize or renew patients’ accessible parking permits. These usually are routine, but not always. One morning, a patient, whom I’ll refer to as Steve, came into my clinic.
Steve was mainly a healthy man in his 40s. He had had chronic pain since an accident on a construction job site several years ago. He had successfully filed for disability, with a …
Read more…
Over thirty years as a physician, I have proudly and intentionally developed my subspecialty in pain management. As an interventional physiatrist, it is my chosen calling to improve the quality of life of people in pain and help them get moving again. I’ve had the privilege of overseeing many remarkable recoveries, including those by patients who had little hope when they first came to my office. Though this has been …
Read more…
An excerpt from Beyond Diagnosis: Perspective in Medicine and the Human Experience.
As my career advances, I have been reflecting on this increasing standardization and what sometimes seems to be a dehumanization of medicine in the United States. While technology has the potential to help us bring humanity back to the forefront of medical practice while also improving diagnosis and care, much of the human element has been lost …
Read more…
I started having children towards the end of my medical school. By the time I became a resident, I already had two young boys. My wife was also a pathology resident at that time. We worked hard and were fortunate to have parents who helped us occasionally. However, we still missed out on a lot when my family relocated to Florida; my sons began their first years in school while …
Read more…
