Over the past three years, we have learned a lot about getting COVID infections, and being re-infected with the COVID virus. Looking back, there is a lot that we know now that we did not know previously. Thanks to CNET for reaching out to me to comment on this for their story “What to know about getting COVID again (and again) in 2023.” I encourage you to click on the article and to check out my comments. Have a great weekend everyone ..read more

A cheeseburger really is not healthy, right? Well, in a recent news report, a survey claimed that the food chain Whataburger (we have no restaurants around here) has the “healthiest” cheeseburger in America. The wildly popular food website called Mashed (they have 25 monthly readers worldwide) reached out for my comment on this. You can probably guess what I said about it. But, I invite you to click on the full article entitled “Expert Claims Whataburger Cheese Burger Isn’t Actually That Healthy” on the Mashed website. Enjoy ..read more

Another year has started, and it’s always a time for me to reflect. Every time at the beginning of the year, I tell myself that it’s a great time to try to get back to writing, and I’m going to try that again this year. We’ll see what happens ..read more

What a beautiful day here in northeastern Ohio. It was a crisp 39 degrees at Beaver Creek State Park today as we hiked close to sunset. This hike really reminded me of the time when my father was sick two years ago.  In the past few weeks, I’ve seen on by feed that there are many of my Facebook friends have experienced loss with the passing of a family member recently. And, for others, they are remembering family members who have passed away during holiday time. For all those Carrying Loss during this holiday season, I just wanted to let you know that there is a huge community out here w ..read more

Just wanted to encourage everyone to get out there and vote today. I know that the news usually says that it’s always, “The most important election in our lifetime,” at least until the next election. I just read a local news article saying that the local board of elections is only expecting about 60% turnout today. We have got to do better than that. A few years ago, I was frustrated that I was sometimes unable to attend elections due to my work schedule. And, actually a patient reminded me and turned me onto the idea of absentee voting, and I’ve been doing that ever since. I’ve even had some ..read more

For the fall issue of the Ohio Family Physician magazine, I wrote the following essay. The theme of the issue was the topic of Health Myths……. When people typically hear the term “Health Myths” they typically think of things having to do with misinformation on the internet, misinformation about COVID-19, and other ideas. You probably have never thought about health myths following the end of someone’s life. My father passed away during the tragic year of 2020, when many people died, masks were the norm, and a COVID vaccine was still unavailable. My father did not pass away from COVID infectio ..read more

Are there long time friends that you just haven’t talked with since the start of the pandemic? Of course, you were like me, saying to yourself, “Well, we will chat again soon.” Or, “One of these days I’ll give them a call again.” But, it’s now been two years. Two long years. I challenged myself this week. I had some days off from work, and it was my goal to re-connect with some people whom I haven’t talked with in a while. And, even though it’s been two years, it felt like we picked up right where we left off at our last conversation. Do you have friends like that? Through my experiences this ..read more

“The thrill of victory, and the agony of defeat.” This was the iconic tagline from the Wide World of Sports show when I was growing up back in the day. What’s so interesting to observe is the attitude of the press and the public during events like the Olympic Games. The hype and the expectation leading up to sporting events like this is incredibly high, that I don’t know how these athletes deal with this. For example, the press coverage today will be focusing on Mikaela Shiffrin who did not finish her 2nd race in the last 2 days. She was heavily favored to win multiple gold medals, and now in ..read more

I don’t know what it is, but the Olympic games has always captured my imagination, even going back to when I was 11 years old, and watching Scott Hamilton ice skating in Sarajevo. Has it really been 38 years since that performance? Whether it be the winter games, or the summer games, I always have tried to think about what has been like to be an Olympic athlete. You always hear the personal stories about how these athletes sometimes start their training as a young child, and all the sacrifices that they have made to try to achieve their dream. What happens when they succeed, or, even mor ..read more

So, happy February. First of all, thanks to everyone who has reached out to me asking why I haven’t been in the office for the past couple of days. Just wanted to let everyone know that I am ok. I am not ill, and I do not have COVID. I had some planned time off at the beginning of February, and I’ll be back at work soon. I appreciate everyone’s concern. It’s the first Monday in February just wanted to check in with everyone. For me, January started off well for me. I made some small changes for myself, both from a personal standpoint, and from a professional standpoint. For example, I’ve real ..read more