Five days before this story begins, where everything is upside down, and the end is the beginning.
Me, standing in my PICU, slowly approaching that cradle, then removing the medication, one by one, turning off the syringe pumps. Saying out loud the number of milliliters passed, where that line is trapped, that little division between the professional and me, the person.
Where I stopped being a doctor and became a woman holding …
I wondered if this post needs a trigger warning. Maybe it does. I don’t know now. What feelings stir up inside us when we hear of a child’s death?
My first experience with a child dying in front of me was soon after medical school graduation. I was an inexperienced 24-year-old working in a government hospital in Bangalore. I don’t remember many details, but I remember his face and his father’s …
This is a complicated answer with a complex history.
The most recent factor contributing to the formula shortage is COVID-19 and the pandemic’s effect on supply chains. With the start of the pandemic, people began stockpiling supplies from toilet paper, bottled water, to formula. Concurrently, birth rates decreased due to fear of the virus and its unknown effects on pregnant patients, fetuses, and newborns. Formula consumption was low, decreasing …
I cry often enough that my kids almost gleefully expect it, checking me for tears during movies or shows, shaking their heads in mock dismay when they see that their prediction is correct. I’ve cried many times at home, watching screens, reading books, talking on the phone, and at work, where I am a doctor who cannot always suppress my emotions. And I’ve cried in front of health care providers …
In 2022, you might have never envisioned that the United States of America would be among other countries struggling to feed its babies. As of the first week of May, more than 40 percent of formula brands are out of stock, and many families are desperately searching high and low, near and far, to find substitute options. In the background of this chaos, I cannot help but consider how we …
Breast is best.
Fed is best
Informed is best.
Fed is first.
What really is best and first when it comes to infant feeding: support. Support is best. Whether we are talking about infant feeding or frankly anything else related to postpartum or the fourth trimester, support is critical.
The other slogans just fall short.
Breast is best. Breastmilk is the most ideal nutrition for infants. Milk is created specifically for infants …
I am truly disheartened and frustrated that politics are criminalizing evidence-based medical care for transgender youth. At least seven states proposed anti-trans bills in the first week of 2022, and due to political pressure, some hospitals are closing their doors to new patients. I worry about not being able to see my patients and about their treatment being disrupted. Transgender youth could lose access …
Medicine as art appealed to me as a child. Working with families to achieve a state of health was an admirable goal—if naïve. I only went to the physician for immunizations and obligatory school physicals during childhood. My mom employed home remedies and time if I became ill, which fortunately worked.
I had no concept of what a career in medicine involved. Over twenty-five years, I explored every avenue available to …
Premature babies (a.k.a. preemies) and their families are increasingly becoming a powerful voice in society. Life in and after the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) is like being dropped off a cliff. I support the preemie community from pregnancy to NICU to home and into the adult years because I had a preemie. My daughter’s story is a stunning example of a system gone wrong and why better outcomes research …
If I were writing a book about what it’s like to be a visionary pediatrician speaking up for children’s health, I would title it, The Hate We Get.
A few months ago, I received a death threat comment on a TikTok video I posted advocating for COVID vaccines.
My college-aged daughter called me, “Mom, I saw your TikTok video. That’s so scary. I’m so sorry.”
“I expected it. I’ve had worse.”
I did a …
In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, governments and communities had to take rapid and decisive action to protect their citizens against this novel virus. While it was yet unclear how dangerous the COVID-19 infection may be to children, their teachers, and their families, governments quickly shut down schools and activities to slow the spread among the population at large.
Before the pandemic, childhood obesity was already a crisis with …
It’s been a year since I retired from almost 40 years as a pediatrician (most of that time as a pediatric hospitalist). What have I learned? What surprised me?
1. I have finally caught up on my sleep. I have been convinced that I still had a cumulative sleep deficit dating back to med school. After one solid year of sleeping 8-9 hours a night and waking up without an alarm …
Physician burnout continues to increase as we enter into year three of the COVID-19 pandemic. In August 2021, the Physicians Foundation reported data from a survey of 2,504 physicians conducted from May 26-June 9, 2021. In this survey, 61 percent of physicians reported experiencing burnout, an increase from 40 percent reported in the 2018 data. This burnout is often seen in those who, during their midlife, may feel what Brene …
I just received my peer evaluation from work. And I’m gonna admit: I was nervous.
“Yikes.” I cringed when I saw it in my inbox. Would my colleagues call me out for not being as sharp, fast, or adept as them? Would they fault me because I just cannot stomach a dislocation despite working in a pediatric urgent care for several years? (True story: I damn near dropped out while treating …
When was the last time you paused for a moment to feel your energy? I mean, really get in touch with the energy you hold inside your being?
Could it be as physicians, we have gotten so used to that stressful feeling or that drained feeling at the end of the day that we’ve forgotten how to feel at ease and be in a state of joy as we take care …
Even before I turned 16, I knew I liked girls. I also knew I liked boys. I didn’t understand it. Why was I drawn to women? During that period of my life (between 11 and 16 years of age), I was also in a boarding school. An all-girl boarding school, for that matter. It was torture. It went against everything I knew to be “right.”
That was the first time that …
I walk into the patient room, “Hello, I’m Dr. Seabury. What can we do for you today?” As soon as I see the unbundled child, I know there is a problem. I examine the patient fully. Carefully. The conversation that comes next is a challenging one.
“Strong concern.” “Slow growth.” “Percentiles.” “Development.” “Admission to the hospital.”
There is silence, then the words from the family flow forth. Angry, accusatory, confused, dismissive, worried, …
“Gimme five,” the TV doctor said to his little patient as he entered the exam room. As I watched this scene in an evening TV program, I was reminded of one of my pediatric practice’s most gratifying stories, which happened over 20 years ago.
Before the days of cellphones, the internet, and social media, I had become the local expert on support groups. After realizing how what I learned from support …
Them: “I have never heard of this.”
Me: “That’s OK, let me explain what is going on. Your child has a condition called multi-system inflammatory syndrome in children, which we call MIS-C. We see this condition after a COVID infection where the whole body becomes inflamed, causing fevers. You get inflammation in the small blood vessels of your eyes and skin, which is why your son has red eyes and a …
It was my son’s birthday, and I wanted to give him a gift he would remember. He had written a story when he was seven years old about eating boogers. As a urologist, I can attest that this is not a healthy habit and do not recommend it. I helped him publish his first book, Boogers for Brunch, on Amazon.
I …
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