Patients with myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) and their allies will rally in DC, London, and Edinburgh this September to “demand bold, urgent governmental action” for the millions of people living with ME, long COVID, and other infection-ass…
Category: Conditions
Focus on the rheumatoid arthritis patient, not on their disease
Medical school, residency, and fellowship taught me pathophysiology, diagnosis, and the most advanced treatments for autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis. As an attending physician, seeing my own patients, I noticed that targeted therapy is no…
How pediatricians can get involved with behavioral health
Boom! Crash! Ow! That was the feeling of many pediatricians nationwide as we were hit in the face with the bomb of the COVID pandemic and all of the challenges it would bring, notably in the demands for mental health care. This skyrocketing demand led …
Endometriosis is often misdiagnosed. How to get the right diagnosis.
The six to ten percent of women in the U.S. who are living with endometriosis have to deal with not only the pain and complications the disease causes, but often also with exceptionally long delays before receiving a diagnosis—an average of 8.5 years f…
Care coordination for obstetrics teams is crucial
Maternal health has been a trending topic in the news due to increased maternal mortality rates due to challenges in accessing care during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson ruling overturning Roe v. Wade is deepening con…
A friendly battle with a patient’s potassium
“By God’s grace, Dr. Sal!” “Yes, T.J.! What’s the good news?” “Guess what Mr. Thompson’s potassium is now?” “3.1 …” “Wrong! 4.1!” We high-fived each other immediately and bre…
The impact of a single COVID infection
This piece started out focusing on the impact of colds on our lives, particularly if COVID is now “just a cold.” But now it’s personal. My husband and I escaped COVID until now by being very careful until we got vaccinated. Once vacci…
What anticipatory grief feels like
An excerpt from A Caregiver’s Love Story. After Bill was given his terminal diagnosis of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and the bloody nose scare, I began to worry about the future. It was like “waiting for the other shoe to drop,” won…
We need to get real about chronic pain solutions
For all the time and attention that’s placed on whether opioids should be prescribed or even removed from the market, we must put equal – if not greater – emphasis on enhancing access to non-opioid pain treatments. Not prescribing opioids doesn&#…
How to stay off my operating table
Health isn’t about luck — it’s about intentionality. But even if you’re doing and saying all the right things, you might not be any closer to your goals. I know because I was there. As a heart surgeon, I was very good at following the…
