A Lesson in Medical Humanities

Thank you English 1A Composition students at the College of Alameda for reading and commenting on my blog. It was wonderful to get to know you better through your responses to my posts and our discussions in class. I am looking forward to reading the essays that you wrote in response to a medical humanities [...]

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Introducing SIS–Surviving Infant Surgery blog

Just want to give a shout-out about Fred Vanderbom’s new blog at http://survivinginfantsurgery.wordpress.com/. Here is a place to find out fascinating information about infant surgery and read stories of those who’ve survived infant surgery. He is looking for narratives to share on this site, so please think about submitting one. Also, let other people know about [...]

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Cooking a Book: Time to Publish

I finished a draft of my book proposal. Hallelujah! I will be editing it for surface errors this Wednesday evening and then giving it to my partner, Griffin, for the last going over. By the second week in November, the proposal, which includes a sample chapter, will be in the mail to an agent! I [...]

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The Literature of Medical Humanities

My memoir, The Autobiography of a Sea Creature, is just about ready for sending out to agents!  I am thrilled. As I scroll through each chapter, I feel really happy and proud. Part of the first chapter will appear in a book soon to be published by University of California Press, The Healing Art of Writing. [...]

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Stitches and Me

David Small‘s new graphic novel Stitches is a must read. My mouth is still hanging open from the impact of this astounding work–a memoir in comic book format but definitely not funny. I can’t believe how deeply I connected with it and feel the author and I have lived parallel lives.  Or perhaps this type [...]

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Re-integration

Here is another drawing I made in the ‘70’s, trying to work through the trauma I experienced from my surgery in infancy. This picture depicts the aftermath of the explosion of my skin. I am scattered into pieces. Below, a red (wounded) fetus remains “unborn”– a lump, inert and undelivered, left to languish. Another little [...]

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“A spell is broken.”

These words were spoken to me by my partner in one of our small group exercises. I just got back from the Medical Narrative Workshop at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City and in one of the workshops directed by Rita Charon, the task was to think of a difficult [...]

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