Abilities changing. Can’t play my horn. Acute pain on top of chronic pain. Need new solutions. Right-sizing virtual and in-person visits. Maintain optimism.

Life without sax? Oh, no!

I haven’t been able to play my baritone saxophone for a few weeks. I’m bummed and worried. I often speak about my health goals: progress as slowly as possible, don’t fall, don’t mess with my pathological optimism, and continue playing the baritone saxophone. I haven’t been able to play due to issues with my back, decreasing mobility, and the weight of the big 25-pound horn hanging around my neck. I’ve been playing an average of an hour…

US worse in maternal mortality among rich nations. Black women 2.5x more likely to die than white women. Drs. Whitt & Masinter discuss fragmented care and info.

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Maternal mortality rates in the United States are low. That statement needs a bit of unpacking. What’s a maternal mortality? What’s a rate? Low compared to what or for whom? A Pregnancy-related mortality, death during pregnancy or within one year of the end of pregnancy from a pregnancy complication, a chain of events initiated by pregnancy, or the aggravation of an unrelated condition by the physiologic effects of pregnancy. Physiological means relating to…

Mighty Casey Quinlan’s #MetsParty returns from the hospital. Worth it. Took control. Alive, cooking, eating, working. Piss and vinegar. Pasta.

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Our friend and inspiration, Casey Quinlan, returns from five days in the hospital. Casey authors and produces a podcast, Healthcare Hilarious. I sponsor Healthcare is Hilarious. Since this bit of fun with Stage IV metastatic cancer, Casey lacks the energy to maintain her weekly delivery schedule, so I’m recording our exchanges. Casey can use them to keep her fans and followers up to date. Listen to the raw, unedited version #MetsParty goes to the hospital here.

Why do I cross-post…

More of the Tomoff 20-year odyssey with 5 rounds of cancer. Open your heart to community. Bottle empathy. Embrace post-traumatic growth. Succession planning.

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Welcome back to the Tomoff Family, Olivia, Bill, Terri, and Ryan. Terri Tomoff wrote a book, The Focused Fight, a story about hope and survival of one ordinary family and their community of support to bring a two-year-old through five cancers over twenty years (three times leukemia and twice adult tongue cancer). In episode 1, Honor Supporting Cast, the Stars of Disabling Conditions, we met the Tomoff’s and talked about ‘We’re different, That’s normal’; spiritual health; pillow…

Terri Tomoff wrote The Focused Fight, bringing a 2-year-old through 5 cancers over 20 years. We hear from the whole family. Each star & supports. Help the Helpers.

Proem (Preface)

Health Hats: My first clinical rotation in nursing school in 1973 traumatically seeded my approach to health service. Assigned to a couple committed to natural childbirth with the father in the delivery room, unusual at that time and place, the mother had a normal pregnancy. But she delivered a squalling baby with its chord wrapped tightly around its waist, normal from waist up and withered from the waist down. Dad and green…

Nurture spirit for best health. Death, dying, grief, trauma weaken and ++ connections, music, art, mindfulness, gratitude strengthen the spirit. A mystery indeed.

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We visited my sister this week, traveling between cool, sunny San Diego and very hot Indio, CA. Not the same here since my mom died in 2014. My sister, Jessica, and I reminisced. What did Ruth, my mom, believe happened after death? She thought her body died and her spirit lived. She hoped her spirit would come back in a Monarch butterfly. My mom, born Jewish, rejected organized religion after surviving the Holocaust. My other sister thinks…

Still hilarious traveling down the tube of metastatic cancer? Maybe bemused, bewildered, be tired. Definitely not dead yet. Mighty Casey keeps us up-to-date.

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Let me introduce my dear friend, Casey Quinlan. Last week, when I said that I’m a lousy revolutionary, I thought about Casey, a much better revolutionary. Casey uses the handle, Mighty Casey, and publishes the podcast, Healthcare is Hilarious. I sponsor Casey’s podcast through Patreon. While our approach to healthcare activism varies considerably, Casey is one of a handful of activists I consult when I find myself in a hole I can’t get out of. She’s a…

How can co-production help get research findings into practice and life? Consider strategy and tactics based on researchers’ and public’s capacity, willingness, and opportunity to co-produce.

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When your 10-year-old child plans, purchases ingredients and prepares dinner for the family every Thursday, that’s co-production. When neighborhood residents work closely with police to allocate resources to identify and address local safety risks, that’s co-production. When patients and caregivers — people with lived experience — serve as co-Primary Investigators (PIs) in research, that’s co-production. Several readers and listeners of last week’s episode Walk the Talk. Person-First and Co-Production asked me to say more…