by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Dec 7, 2021 | Miscellaneous Musings
Today is the 80th anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. We can vaguely understand how the Greatest Generation felt by comparing it to the impact of 9/11 on our generation. However, as terrible as 9/11 was, it doesn’t compare to the attack on Pearl Harbor. On the...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Nov 22, 2021 | Miscellaneous Musings
I read Nathaniel Philbrick’s book Mayflower and it’s the antidote to self-pity if you need to snap out of it at Thanksgiving. We forget that when the Pilgrims celebrated Thanksgiving, what they were thankful for was just being ALIVE. I’d like to focus on different...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Oct 15, 2021 | Miscellaneous Musings
Are you feeling a little sorry for yourself today? You probably have good reasons. How is self-pity working out as a coping mechanism? If you’d like to try a different approach, I know someone who can show you how. One of my heroes informed me that today is national...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Oct 6, 2021 | Miscellaneous Musings
“I don’t think of all the misery but of the beauty that still remains.” –Anne Frank It’s easy to think that one’s mood is determined by one’s circumstances, but Anne Frank didn’t believe that. Depression and despair, hope and happiness are the by-products...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Oct 5, 2021 | Miscellaneous Musings
My wonderful nurse Jessica came up with the idea of a “Thankful Bulletin Board.” There are paper “leaves” available at the check-out desk so that patients can write down anything for which they are thankful, even if they are not yet healed....
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Aug 16, 2021 | Fight the Good Fight, Miscellaneous Musings
You have to watch this! Dr. Monique Abner is a Plastic Surgeon and Wound Care Physician and she’s also one of the most creative and FUN people I know. A few years ago (in the good old days when we got to physically see each other at medical meetings), a group of us...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Aug 16, 2021 | Miscellaneous Musings
This past Saturday morning (August 14th), a magnitude 7.2 earthquake hit southern Haiti. To make matters worse, a tropical storm is headed that way which will complicate search and rescue. If you are moved to donate money in the face of these tragedies, I’d like to...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Aug 6, 2021 | Fight the Good Fight, Miscellaneous Musings
I love practicing medicine because every day there is a mystery to ponder and I also hear great patient stories! The daughter of one of my patients is a remarkable woman whose amazing dog has been trained for search and rescue and as a “cadaver dog.” These are tough...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Aug 2, 2021 | Miscellaneous Musings
A lot of hyperbaric medicine physicians got into the field because they loved scuba diving. But, when the pressures of life and work take over, we often stop doing the things we love and then wonder why the joy has gone out of life. I recently met Joe Poe, an...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Jul 19, 2021 | Fight the Good Fight, Miscellaneous Musings
As a medical student, I remember being counseled by a very wise (and very brilliant) physician mentor about “therapeutic touch.” It might just be a pat on the arm – but he made a point to touch every patient he saw (naturally, in a socially appropriate way) even when...
