Well, Then, Here We Go...
Welcome to Still Healing!
I think I’ve finally figured out what I want to be when I grow up. Never mind that I’m 63—it has taken that long to arrive at the conclusion that I’m not going to be any one thing. As a start, I’m a writer, a doctor, a mother, a partner and a friend. I finally feel okay about the mishmash of roles that both complement and conflict, sometimes at the same time.
I’m bringing this Substack to life here, in a community of writers and readers, hoping to make, and share, the most of this intersection of medical life, writing life, and just plain old life. I also hope to have a continuing conversation about health, wellness and illness in our society, and the way healthcare is (or isn’t) provided in the US.
Just to be clear, I won’t offer medical advice or bore anyone with
physiology. This is about medicine as part of society and culture, and about doctors and patients as human beings.
I’ve been a primary care doctor for 34 years, and a writer for just about as long. I came to writing late, and serendipitously (more about that another time.) I’ve been blogging for years on a Wix blog attached to my writing website, but I’m eager to move to a platform that is more of a community. I’ve also written two books. The first is about my own misadventures as a patient who knew a little too much, or maybe not enough, for her own good. The second, forthcoming from Minerva Rising Press in 2024, is a memoir-in-essays, about my love for doctoring and my disillusionment with the actual practice of medicine.
We all have to live in a body that we must care for. Every one of us is going to need help with that now and then, which means medical care, right? So I hope you’ll come along for this ride with me.
I’ll be posting once a week, and I’m going to try to migrate some of my Wix blog posts over- I’m not too technically inclined, so wish me luck. For now, all subscriptions are free (unlike medical care!)