Desert Magnolia

They call it the practice of medicine for a reason - you're never done learning, never done improving your technique or expanding your knowledge to best serve your patients. It's a lifelong thing.
The dailiness of practice continues to fill me with happiness and gratitude. I look around, at times, and wonder how in the world I could find myself in the middle of health journeys, actively participating in quests for improved strength, reduced pain...

Our 2006 Subaru Outback is aging, most days well, some days expensively, but all days...it's getting older.
Old isn't bad. But old can mean...being careful instead of fearlessly forging ahead.
Careful about driving too hard, too far, on a hot day. The Subie, it turns out, has a lightweight cooling system, and our climate is far from lightweight. It's heavyweight. 95-103 degrees for weeks on end. Lots of hills and stop and go traffic and opportunities...

My fatherinlaw recently passed away after a long battle with COPD.  He leaves behind three children, only one of whom spoke with him at the time of his death. That child, as it turns out, is my husband.
My husband is a middle child - literally and in every possible figurative sense of the word. He has spent his entire life making peace (or attempting to craft lasting detante's in a family full of angst, stubbornness and general dysfunction, like most...

 As I settle into my second year of practice, I am becoming more comfortable with the medicine overall, and am feeling continually blessed to be in a place where I can participate in journeys to better health and well being.
Each day brings challenges, opportunities to test my abilities as a practitioner, and conversations about life, love, health, wellness and managing obstacles along the way. I am continually impressed by how patients cope, how they overcome their unique...