I arrived at my building’s outpatient unit at 1:38pm.  Although my appointment was at 1:40pm, I still gave myself a huge pat on the back for being “early,” which, technically, I was.  A few signatures later, I was handed a paper gown of fairly decent quality and was instructed to wear it, opening to the back, after removing everything except my skivvies.  There I was, sitting on the examination table, feeling quite vulnerable.  And then I looked down.  Crap!

A couple of weeks ago, my bad-breathing baby landed us in the Trauma Room in the Emergency at our local hospital. On about his fifth Ventolin treatment, a woman was brought into the bed beside us.

The woman was explaining her symptoms as they were going through triage a few feet away from us. Now, I’ve only seen ER twice and maybe half an episode of Grey’s, but it was pretty darn clear to Dr. Mama that this woman was about to have a massive heart attack.

Elements of nature can reflect back elements of your inner self, says nature writing expert Mary Reynolds Thompson (http://www.reclaimingthewildsoul.com/

We've all waited for a pediatrician appointment, taken time off of work to accommodate a work-in appointment for a sick child, used a vacation day for well child immunizations or sports/camp/school physicals, right?   The convenience and cost effectiveness of the new "Take Care Clinics" or walk in "Doc-In-The-Box" Clinics (as I affectionately call them) are cropping up in pharmacies and retail stores nationwide.  In fact, I needed to use one for my youngest while on vacation in Florida for an otitis media.   No need to ruin the vacation, we just heade

I normally choose not to read newspapers, but I’m at a conference and a copy of USA Today was left outside my door. This article really caught my attention “Is This the Anti-Aging Secret?” The article was talking about how exercise may be the closest thing we have to the fountain of youth.

Consumer Reports Health, released May 10th, did a side-by-side comparison of popular weight loss methods like Weight Watchers and Jenny Craig—shedding some new light on what works for dieters and what doesn’t. For instance, while the old adage remains true that you need to burn more calories than you consume, some calories have been found to be more filling than others like protein according to research. Limiting carbohydrates, as famously promoted by the Atkins diet, is becoming an increasingly accepted weight lost strategy according to the report.

Overfed and undernourished. With 24/7 access to nutritionally depleted, technologically created, chemically treated “food,” many of us are taking in thousands of calories that do little to sustain us, let alone nourish us and encourage us to thrive.

This Mother's Day, my own mother is in the forefront of my mind.  At the age of 80, she's facing end of life issues with her significant other whom she loves dearly.  I often think and write about love and strength when facing life's realities; today this is a little more real when I think about my Mom.

The only thing worse than having one surgery is having two ! Every mother in the world knows that none of us have time to get a cold, much less land in the hospital for surgery. However, that is exactly what I am going to be doing, for the second time in eight months. Can you hear my disgusted sigh ???