As a surrogate consultant, people often ask me for advice on the best advance directive (AD) to cover their medical and end-of-life (EOL) wishes. Unfortunately, the answer is not that simple. An AD is a “legally recognized” document usually containin…
It never ceases to amaze me that some people do not realize they have the absolute right to make their own health care choices even if everyone else thinks it’s the wrong choice. Once they recognize that every medical option is theirs to accept or reje…
For those working in the health care profession, life has been a nightmarish existence for the past 18 months. COVID-19, originally billed as an illness no more severe than the flu, has devastated America and most other world countries. Loss of life du…
I took a deep breath. The medical assistant who was checking me in for a video appointment was trying my patience. I was trying to explain, once again, that no, I really didn’t have HNSHA due to triosephosphate isomerase deficiency. The rare condition …
I believe in the power and sanctity of the relationship between nurses, patients, and physicians. A feeling that one is part of a team, part of a triad, whose sole purpose is centered on enhancing the patient’s health. This security empowers a pa…
An excerpt from Never Pay the First Bill: And Other Ways to Fight the Health Care System and Win. The American epidemic of unnecessary medical treatment is one of the reasons your health care costs keep going up. Experts estimate it’s wasting hun…
Recently, I came across two high-profile Twitter accounts sharing a meme insinuating that parents who have children with nut allergies are hesitant to give the coronavirus vaccine to their children. The author of the tweet, Bette Midler, so eloquently …
Chances are, if you’ve heard of “dysautonomia,” it’s in relation to the buzz surrounding the recently identified post-COVID-19 syndrome. However, dysautonomia is not new. Patients with Ehlers-Danlos syndromes (EDS) have long suffered from this elusive …
Days morphed into weeks, into months. It’s now been over a year, and the world is still living in the shadow of COVID. The world has changed; I have changed. There is a sense of vulnerability now, more so than any time in recent years. Well, mayb…
An excerpt from About Natalie: A Daughter’s Addiction. A Mother’s Love. Finding Their Way Back to Each Other. I look around at the pale walls of the emergency room. Yes, we are back here. Not for an overdose, but this time for an abscess so…
