I lost my mom to breast cancer two months before finding out I was pregnant for the first time … with twins. Trying to navigate being a new mom of two without my own mom was ridiculously hard, both physically and emotionally. While I had help at …
Category: Pediatrics
Bottles and pacifiers: advice from a Latinx pediatrician
Growing up in Puerto Rico, “babas” (bottles: biberón/botellas) and “bobos” (pacifiers: chupetes/chupón) were very common among the families and children of the island. I still remember our Abuelita giving us milk in our “…
9 tips for new pediatric residents
It’s that wonderful time of year when new interns take their first steps into hospitals as practicing physicians One of us has just completed her intern year and the other quite a while back (but recently enough to still remember some of it), so we wan…
Embrace the growth mindset while practicing the humbling business of modern medicine
As a newly minted neonatal-cardiac intensivist, I was all ready to take on the world. I mean, caring for the babies with congenital heart disease (CHD), congenital diaphragmatic hernias (CDH) and all other congenital anomalies and premature birth. I wa…
Participating in the greatest miracle a physician is privileged to be part of
An excerpt from A Country Doctor Writes: CONDITIONS: Diseases and Other Life Circumstances. “Welcome back. How was your trip? Or exile … you were away for a long time.” “Almost a year,” my nine o’clock patient answered. A woman just over forty, s…
A medical student’s physician inspiration
Amaka was a timid-looking girl, tall in stature with a head of braided hair, like myself. She was unassuming and composed at first glance and, if my hypothesis was correct, she could not have been older than me. We were similar, both being of Igbo heri…
Listen a little closer. Understand a little deeper. Heal a bit better.
When news started coming in that throngs of protestors were gathering in Chicago to protest the horrific killing of George Floyd, my initial feelings of anger were tempered by a hope that maybe this time things would turn around for our black brothers …
A subtle change in the parents at a pediatric clinic
Currently, we are in a transition time. Many of us are still healing from the shock brought on by the beginning days of the COVID crisis. While it has been nice to enjoy the warmer weather both from a distance but also amongst friends given the lifting…
Detention facilities cannot respond adequately to this pandemic
In the world of pediatrics, my colleagues and I remain vigilant about the threat of coronavirus to children. Every week, we learn more information about new presentations of COVID-19, such as novel inflammatory syndromes. Still, I am hopeful that with …
It’s OK to mourn your wedding
I went through the five stages of grief when we lost our wedding to COVID-19. The denial: “I’m sure this will be over by summer.” The anger: “This is so unfair! I’ve planned this for two years.” The bargaining: “We’ll just push it back to July, no need…
