Go together well

On Valentine’s Day, as I was walking back toward the hospital after buying a Coke from the Red Cross canteen (a little shop adjacent to the hospital “car park” where they sell snacks, soft drinks, and sadza ), a man about my age walked briskly toward me, saying, “Hi doc, I’m sorry to interrupt you but can I ask a personal question?” My mind jumped to: where’s the rash? Instead, he continued, “It’s about my wife. She was admitted to the labour ward for an induction today, but now they’re sending her back to the antepartum ward because she isn’t having contractions.” (The labour ward has a strict no visitors policy, which also means no husbands.Throughout the rest of the hospital, visitors are only allowed for two hour-long periods each day.)  He went on to tell me about the recent course of his wife’s pregnancy, and I was becoming curious about what the “personal question” would be. After a few minutes, he asked simply, “Do you think she’ll be okay? Do you think the baby will be ...

Our puppy-sitting gig ended last night and, although it was fun playing with Maizie, we were reminded of how glad we are that our dog is a grown-up! (Puppies are a lot of work!) We continue to be extremely  grateful to my parents for taking care of Tessie during our time in Baltimore, and we're counting the days until we get to relieve them of their dog care duties. {my favorite picture of Tessie as a puppy} Today, I spent the morning at the Peabody Library , putting the finishing touches on my capstone project (similar to a master's thesis), which is due this Friday. I have focused on global environmental change/climate change (commonly known as global warming ) as a neglected public health problem.  Prior to starting my MPH program, I hadn't really thought of climate change as a public health concern...but it makes sense: people kind of rely on a healthy planet and a consistent climate for our health and well-being!  (Stephen Colbert's thoughts on the mat...