Field Notes from Fifty-Five Fruit Street #7. Pain
I was not thinking much about pain when I was getting ready to report to duty at Fifty-Five Fruit Street. Mine has been a life devoid of physical pain. Never have a headache, never broke a bone, never had dental pain, don’t suffer from a chronic inflammatory ailment...
Field Notes from Fifty-Five Fruit Street #6. Context Dependent
In our family’s work, each of us is involved with team building and creating unified efforts with articulated goals across our chosen areas of expertise — medicine and healing, the arts, technology, and sports. One thing we all appreciate is that most everything in...
Field Notes from Fifty-Five Fruit Street #5. Shower
In 1986 when Paul and I honeymoon in the North Cascades, neither of us is an experienced backpacker. On one leg of our journey, we arrive at Nancy Lake, at the far end of Lake Chelan at an exquisite campground along the water. After being in the woods and carrying...
The day we check in, staff is running late. We go exploring down Charles Street and around the neighborhood, come back to MGH and run into a construction worker looking out a picture frame window at excavating being done between buildings. I ask him for a verbal tour...
#3 Field Notes From Fifty-Five Fruit Street: Introducing RALPH
The biggest challenge about living at a hospital for a month or so is the head game. For me it’s about creating routine, being kind to everyone, getting exercise, doing “normal” things, being creative, and staying in the moment. Many of you know I love to dance. So...
#2 FieldNotes from Fifty-Five Fruit Street. Let’s Eat!
I could write a whole piece on hospital food and snacks. On the lack of taste or the overly salted, or the ultra-processed snack options and chronic-disease-causing vittles. But I’d rather focus on another part: the long menu of a la carte meal options, the cooks...
FieldNotes from Fifty-Five Fruit Street #1. Feeling Perfectly Healthy and Hearing, “You Have Leukemia”
On a clear day in August, with lofty clouds breezing across the afternoon sky, I run a mile, lift weights, pick up my farm share, and speak with a few patients who had summertime colds. I sprawl out on my sunporch in the late afternoon and take a luxurious nap. I...
Campfires of Hope Podcast Interview
While going through cancer care can be a real bummer, there are all kinds of cool activities, groups, and adventures for cancer patients, survivors, those living with cancer and care givers. As the ranks of those whose lives are touched by cancer grows, so too do...
Ozempic vs Berberine
I was interviewed for this piece in the Washington Post—which compares one of my beloved botanical medicines, berberine, to Ozempic. You can see some of my thoughts below. #naturopathic #thriver #diabetes #weightloss #berberine
Refreshing Summer Bean Salad
Refreshing Summer Bean Salad If you’re in a rush, this one is quick! You'll need: 2 cans of beans of your choice, I love cannellini beans, black or red beans; alternately, 2 cups of cooked beans you have on hand, drained ½ red or white onion minced I carrot cut into...