Yes, you’ve read that correctly. I have cancer. It’s still weird to say it, and it’s just as weird to read it back. You may (or you may not) have noticed I’ve been quiet lately. It’s because I’ve been busy having cancer. (See? Even with cancer, I still can’t help being silly at times.) Before you get too worried about me, I’d like you to know that there is good news: it is curable. Even though we are planning for a happy ending, it’s still hard. I still have to go through the physical, emotional, and mental crap of wondering...
There’s an interesting cultural phenomenon that happens in dentistry, and I wonder if it happens in other fields. There is an unspoken rule that we all have to love our jobs and have to constantly show the rest of the world how happy and successful we are. It’s a lot of pressure, especially when some of it feels like a lie. Many dentists spend their whole lives hiding the real struggles we experience. Sure, we can bitch and make jokes with our colleagues about some of our annoying challenges, but we can’t be real about just how much we may...
With so many great holidays to celebrate this time of year, there is one holiday in the bunch that will forever be my favorite– my anniversary! It’s the anniversary of my farewell from a high intensity career in dentistry. It has been 4 years, and it is so hard to believe that so much time has already passed. It’s fitting that it all came to fruition around Thanksgiving, because gratitude is the one feeling that never wavers. I know I made the right decision, and I’m so thankful those days are behind me. What does waver, though, is my perception of...
This week I’m lucky to get to share some words of wisdom from the wonderful woman who had a huge role in helping me leave an unhappy career over two years ago. I know like many of you, I’m really hard on myself when I make a mistake, so it always helps to remember the perspective Melanie offers here. Treat Yourself as You Treat Others Growing up, I was told to treat others as I would like to be treated. You’ve probably heard some version of this principle. And yes, it’s a great principle. Treating others well is respectful, kind...
When you envision yourself years from now looking back on your life, what do you see? Do you see a life well-lived, or are you filled with regrets? In the book The Top 5 Regrets of the Dying: A Life Transformed by the Dearly Departing, author, Bronnie Ware, explores this very subject. As a palliative nurse caring for patients during the last months of their lives, she had the chance to learn the most common things people regretted in their own lives. I haven’t read the book, but an article on The Guardian recently caught my attention. I guess I’m...
We’ve all heard that if you do what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life, right? How do you turn the things you love into a career? I mean, I love food. I love eating. I love being healthy. I love sharing all of that with others. But how do you turn that into work? While I had a few ideas, I never knew how I could realistically do that. Starting the weight loss business allowed me to have a seamless transition out of patient care into a similar patient interaction in a different field. I knew,...
Back in March my blogging friend, Carrie, wrote a post titled The Great Dental Hoax: Why Twice a Year Cleanings Mean Nothing. Wow, what a compelling title! Did she know some secret that I’ve been missing all these years? I have to say that after reading her post, I was left speechless, digesting all that she had to say. But by the end of the article, I was still left wondering why we don’t need dental cleanings twice a year. (more…)
Most people are shocked to find out that as a dentist I’m a total germaphobe. They often ask, “how can you be in people’s mouths all day long if you hate germs?” Hmm, good point! Well, I’m not a dentist anymore, but if I were, remember that our whole existence as dentists is to fight germs. So actually, it may not be much of a stretch philosophically. When I did practice, I did all sorts of quirky things to avoid the little buggers. It only seemed fitting that I tackle the subject in my guest post for Amber at With...
In recent decades the health care culture has changed from what it once was. It used to be one in which the doctor was the authority, and all of his patients blindly trusted his word. Now the culture has switched to one where we as patients have become independent thinkers. We have realized the need to become our own advocates and not rely solely on what the good doctor says. In many ways this has been a positive change, but has it ever caused problems for you or your patients? Does it always seem to benefit your patient? Does it ever...
Guess what time it is? Time for another guest post! My friend over at Brush or Die (don’t you think that’s a little dramatic, buddy?) invited me to share a few thoughts on his site. He is starting dental school this fall, so we decided that in honor of that, I would share some of my tips about life in dental school. You’ll notice that his blog description says, “All Things Dental Except the Boring Stuff.” Yeah, I’m pretty sure that’s why he asked me to write a post for him. So if you have more questions about dental school,...
