Hey Guys:I saw a really powerful presentation at the recent Health 2.0 show about a Alexandra Drane and her sister-in-law who was dying of stage IV glioblastoma.  Alexandra started an organization called EngageWithGrace to "help ensure that all of us - and the people we care for - can end our lives in the same purposeful way we lived them."I blogged about it today and included some practical tips about help to start the conversation with family and loved ones.  I'd love your thoughts, you can check it out here.Thanks!Jude

I've been looking for a new winter workout idea to replace biking. (My take is that biking gets a little dangerous here in the rainy northwest.)  I ran across this one on YouTube:I think I'll go for swimming instead!

According to a story in the Associated Press, The U.S. government is still working to make up its mind of whether plastic additives, like Bisephenol A, are dangerous.  This is after the European Union cast judgement on this issue years ago and U.S. retailers, like Wal Mart, have already begun pulling these products from their shelves.Government toxicologists have reiterated safety concerns about a chemical used in baby bottles an…[more]

A recent surgeon's conference presentation covered in the New York Times is warning plastic surgeons to pick their patients carefully:Despite the financial incentive to take on any patient, facial plastic surgeons, who only do cosmetic enhancements from the neck up, say that operating on someone who has unreasonable expectations can have stark consequences for their livelihood and reputation: Doctors may have to do revision surgery. Pos…[more]

According to a recent article the New York Times, vaccination rates in the U.S. set a record in 2007.   This suprised me given the number of articles that I've read recently tying vaccination concerns and measles outbreaks.

I woke up on Saturday morning to the confusing news that something had happened overnight with John Edwards, and it was bad.  At the grocery store, I bought a New York Times and discovered that he'd confessed to an affair in 2006 and was denying having a child with the woman.My first thought: I want my money back.  I really liked John Edwards.  I like the hometown boy makes good story, the central focus on poverty, keeping Katrina and…[more]

It's interesting to see the "medical establishment" starting to use the tools of social media to share their perspective.  I recently ran across this blog from Nicholas Jacobs, FACHE - President & CEO of Windber Research Institute and Windber Medical Center in Western Pennsylvania.  He's also recently written a book about taking the "Hell Out of Healthcare."

A friend sent me this story on a teen cancer blog nearby in Vancouver, Washington. She blogs about living with and getting treatment for osteosarcoma.  I thought it was an interesting example of how widespread that cancer blogging has become. Check out the story on the blogger in the Columbian here. Check out the teen's blog, Lizstrong, here.

Sad news, Randy Pausch, the professor with pancreatic cancer who created a sensation with his last lecture has died.  You can read his story here in the Chicago Tribune: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-randy-pausch-last-lecture-dead-080725-ht,0,146067.story  I was enormously moved by Randy's blog and, later, his lecture.

I came down with a sore throat, extreme tiredness, and a really nasty, grassy taste in my mouth recently.  I scheduled a doctor's appointment and googled "bad taste in mouth," not expecting the results to be particularly worthwhile. (They were'nt, though it does provide a lot of good reasons to go to the doctor.) I was worried about Strep because I was recently exposed to it, and with a baby at home and one on the way, I didn't want the whole family getting sick. …[more]