health
Doggerel Fails Me
An excerpt from the new e-book Cancer Doesn’t Give a Shit About Your Stupid Attitude.
Home Taping Is Skill in Buddha
We are musicians, sampling his breaks, writing our own songs hundreds of times.
A Debate Not for the Faint of Foreskin
Okay, here goes. Ready? The length of what follows should make this obvious: gird your loins. “Barefoot Intactivist,” from New York, wrote in last week about Gordon Haber’s ever-controversial essay “Uncovered” (see other discussions here and here): I applaud that you tried to approach this subject with logic, reasoning, and facts, but unfortunately you had…
Our Sons’ Willies
As expected, we’ve gotten a lot of mail about Gordon Haber’s circumcision essay, “Uncovered.” People get worked up about penises. Let’s start positive. Jessie Bennett, from Boston, writes: I’m just writing to say how grateful I was to read Gordon Haber’s completely sane, thoughtful piece on circumcision. It so closely mirrored my own thoughts on…
The Desiccated Finger of Fate
I reported to the Johns Hopkins Outpatient Center yesterday for an appointment in the Avon Foundation Breast Center(!). The first thing I saw as I exited the parking structure was what I assume to be an Episcopalian priest in a dog collar. Then, while I waited in the waiting room, considering just how ugly the…
Comforted by “Cancertainment”
Febz Beloy writes in from the Philippines with a note about Mary Valle’s essay “That’s Cancertainment!“: In its own odd little way, I find your article comforting. My mother has recently been diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer that has metastasized to the bones and she’s a non-smoker. It’s tempting to ask “Why?” but then…
Playing Through the Pain
Shelves don’t stay empty for long. The front of a nursing station is meant to be a wide-open vista where patients can perch (if need be) to ask a question, or family members can ask where they can find a bathroom. These horizontal planes, like everything else, soon become cluttered with things. Handknitted hats for…
Mottled, Speckled, Blooming in Colors
Medical report: “riddled with … indurations, erythemas, hematomas” I’d prefer to think of my thighs as some of Fr. Hopkins’ “dappled” or “brindled” things
Dispatch from Johns Hopkins, Weinberg Building
My dog, Ginger, has been invited to play in the fenced-in yard of a neighborhood dog whenever she likes. The dad of the house saw me out there one day with the dogs and his eyes alit on the plastic ID card around my neck. “Where’s that ID from?” he asked. I ignored his question,…
Cancer, Reality, and Mania
Paul R. Mazur, MD, MPH, from Northport, Maine, writes in with a letter about Mary Valle’s weekend essay about cancer-ward poetry, “Doggerel Fails Me“: Courageous bit of writing by Mary Valle. Cancers, and a good many other chronic diseases, of necessity bring one up against awesome realities. I admire those who give access to the…