How Do You Spell Relief?

After months of appointment postponements and weeks of worry from some persistent mouth sores, I'm happy to report that Dr. O'Sullivan has given me a clean bill of health. Walking into Princess Margaret Hospital this morning, it was impossible not to have a sensory flashback to the autumn of my treatment. The crisp, windy air was cool against my skin like a fall morning. The lobby of PMH greeted me with its familiar yet subdued sounds and smells. I had to remind my legs to carry me up the stairs to the Head & Neck clinic, rather than down to radiation oncology. I couldn't shake the memory of feeling as if the world was shrinking away from me like the closing of an iris.

  

Twenty minutes later, when the good doctor gave me the all clear, I realized how much I had feared the return of that constricting iris. Amazing how a few words from a man in white can spring that sucker back open again. So here's to the world being wide open with possibilities again.

What shall I do first?

Online Love for Medical Man!

Summertime and the living is... queasy?

Well, Dodie Ownes over at School Library Journal online obviously had sickness in mind for last week's "Remarkable Reads" column. Ownes features four children's titles about medicine and guess which one leads the pack? The Adventures of Medical Man! SLJ has been a big supporter of the book, having previously published an enthusiastic review back in February. As a writer and a teacher, I'm thrilled to see the book getting repeated praise from a source that is so well-respected by educators and librarians.

And speaking of teaching, click on over to But I'm a Teacher! to get the scoop on my most recent adventures in education -- if you have the stomach for it, of course.