In 1997, when I first started working in the field of reproductive endocrinology and infertility (REI), there was a stigma attached to infertility, as if the women being treated for it were defective because pregnancy didn’t come easily or unassisted. Fortunately, over the last twenty-plus years, this perception has changed, and women are less embarrassed or ashamed to admit to being diagnosed with infertility. This shift is somewhat due to these……
How a painful event in childhood equipped me with the tools I needed to advocate for people of all shapes and sizes.
“I am really having trouble being happy for my friends and family who seem to be getting pregnant easily. I’ve cut off communication with some of them, stopped going to baby showers, and I feel like a jerk. How do I manage this?”-Heidi R. Dear Heidi, Growing up, I played a lot of boardgames, one of my favorites was Scrabble. Scrabble is a game where everyone gets tiles that are letters……
Hello Readers. I decided to start an (irreverent) advice column to answer the many questions that I get on a regular basis. Here is my first attempt.
Think of your brain as a highly-trained watchdog, on high-alert for perceived threats that can put you in danger. By acknowledging that you are in this state and thanking the brain for this coping mechanism, you are effectively telling your brain that you are safe; patting the watchdog on the head (so to speak) and giving it permission to engage the part of the nervous system that’s responsible for relaxation and…
A letter written by my friend and colleague, Lisa Rinehart, RN, BSN, JD Nurses Week 2020– A Perspective in a Unique Time As Nurses’ Week is celebrated this year, I have no doubt that we will continue to hear about the wonderful accolades and sincere gratitude that we have seen attributed to all nurses during the pandemic that has settled over our world. They are all well-deserved and so appreciated. Each……
I had a family member ask me this weekend why I am such a vocal advocate for people with obesity when I personally don’t have a ‘weight problem’. My response is to ask this: Do you have a coping mechanism? I would argue that we all do, whether in response to normal life stressors or true traumas. What if one of your coping mechanisms could be easily seen and noticed before……
An activity that started as a way for me to spend time with my son became a valuable lesson on the care and appreciation of weight-diverse clients. First, a little background. My son is entering high school next year. He is sweet, thoughtful and funny. He is also painfully aware that he is smaller than most boys his age, which limits his involvement in some sports and over time, has eroded……
A little over a year ago, a professor at a prestigious nursing school reached out to me via my website asking if I’d be interested in writing the infertility chapter in a women’s health nursing textbook. I was flattered and realized it would be an amazing opportunity. I was also a little nervous. I weighed the risks and benefits. Writing a chapter in a textbook would be an amazing accomplishment, ensuring……
It’s amazing how a single image can generate two polarized feelings. This one triggers, in me, both intense joy and unbelievable loss. It was taken at a conference about two months after I found out I was pregnant. I remember my husband and I seeing the heartbeat on ultrasound, the only appointment that he was able to make, and us laughing and conspiring about how I was going to keep my……
