Something Old, Something New

When I was a radiation oncology resident in Boston in the early 80’s, a few brilliant minds in physics and medicine came up with the notion that it would be a good idea to treat certain cancers with a beam of protons.  Protons are the positively charged particles which are created with a hydrogen atom… Continue reading Something Old, Something New

Memories of Boston

“Today the road all runners come, Shoulder high we bring you home And set you at your threshold down Townsman of a stiller town.” A.E Housman As this afternoon’s events unfolded, I sat glued to my computer screen between patients.  My life has really been a tale of three cities—Houston, Boston and San Diego.  Boston… Continue reading Memories of Boston

Denial Redux

Today I saw a new breast cancer patient in clinic.  She was a lovely lady of 64, who had retired last year from her job as a special education teacher.  Her medical history had been unremarkable until last November when she began to gain weight inexplicably.  She was also short of breath, but did not… Continue reading Denial Redux

Return to Forever

Tonight, a guest blog from my husband:   I may be dating myself but I vividly remember hearing Chick Corea’s Return to Forever band play a set in Boston in the early 1970’s. I was in medical school at the time, but that didn’t stop me from scraping together the ticket money to hear the… Continue reading Return to Forever

Wilderness Medicine

A few years ago I was at a horse show on a really hot day.  As “horse show mom”, my duties were simple:  get up early, drive child to show, groom and saddle horse, and stand around all day while trying NOT to offer helpful advice to said child.  On this particular humid day the… Continue reading Wilderness Medicine

Pass the Butter Please

  With gratitude to Doctors Rafael Espada and Michael Madani, for fixing my father’s heart, twice.   When Michael Phelps was interviewed during the Beijing Olympics, the world first learned about the extraordinary amount of food needed to fuel the swimmer with the wingspan of a pterodactyl. He said that he ate 12,000 calories a… Continue reading Pass the Butter Please