Have you noticed that there don’t seem to be nearly as many nurses around as there used to be?
When you press that call button in the hospital, you may have to worry: Will someone come quick? And will the person who does arrive be qualified to help?
The fact is that there is a critical nursing [...]

Recently, I spent a couple of hours of my radio show discussing how to care for your aging parents when they’re sick, a topic I also mentioned in my blog. At the time, I didn’t have many suggestions. Now I feel like I have some great advice to share.
An idea expressed by Dr. Stuart Farber, [...]

We probably should have predicted it. I certainly tried my best to help. The Medicare Part D provision that offers reasonable prescription drug plans to seniors and people with serious disabilities has people confused, and it launched recently with some serious transition glitches.
President Bush is upset, seniors are angry, the private health plans and drug [...]

When you were a kid, did you ever take a dance class? I did, at Todd Elementary School in Briarcliff Manor, NY on Saturday afternoons when I was in the fourth grade.
The boys sported blazers, and the girls wore dresses and white gloves. We formed a circle around the multipurpose room, and ol’ silver-maned Mr. [...]

The news item was hard to believe; it had the ring of an urban legend. A research study showed that trained dogs could smell a person’s lung cancer. Their noses could detect the micro parts per billion of certain chemicals that are only emitted by cancer cells.
Can Dogs Smell Cancer? [Science Daily]
In this study which [...]

Okay, I admit it. Along with my family – a wife and three kids – I have a sick addiction: Every year for the past four, we make a point to watch what has become one of America’s top TV shows, American Idol. The other night, we watched the 2006 premiere.
Just to review for those [...]

You may recall how I was thrilled to meet star NFL running back Shaun Alexander at a cancer fundraiser late last year. At the time, Shaun was the star of my hometown Seattle Seahawks football team. Now he’s a household name ever since he was chosen Most Valuable Player for the season.
For an MVP or [...]

Over the years, I have interviewed thousands of patients. Every once in a while I hear a comment that just gets seared into my mind, words I’ll never forget.
One such instance was a few year’s ago, when I was interviewing colon cancer survivors as we built audio programs for the American Cancer Society’s Survivors Network.
Bill, [...]

My wife and I received letters the other week from our primary care provider, Laurie. She’s not a doctor but rather a physician’s assistant. But her experience and caring manner mean everything to us as we navigate the system. She really knows both of us as people, as well as bones and flesh.
So we were [...]

My wife works for Microsoft. At 48, she is older than a lot of the healthy whiz kids there. Most don’t get sick very much. But when they do, it’s the same break in productivity that we all face: Get in the car, hit the road, get caught in traffic, search for parking, sit in [...]