My Lifelong Childhood

"History will judge us by the difference we make in the everyday lives of children."                                                               Nelson Mandela (1918-2013) For the most part, the specialty of Pediatrics is a joyful one.  Those of us fortunate and honored to practice it are met, on a daily basis with humor, wide-eyed curiosity, authenticity and honesty.  Lucky are we who earn the trust of families as we guide them through the nurturing and growth of a young life towards becoming a responsible and healthy adult, hopefully, one with competence and confidence.  Getting up in the morning knowing that, for the most part, this will be your day reminds me of the words of that famous pugilist and philosopher, Muhammad Ali: "Children make you want to start life over!" Getting to know a newborn in the Special Care Nursery in my early days The joys of holding an infant and watching it respond socially with a smile or a gurgle, hearing a toddler be

"Things are not always what they seem; the first appearance deceives many; the intelligence of a few perceives what has been carefully hidden."                        Phaedrus ( Roman Poet 15BC-50AD) I've always heard that one is not supposed to survive one's child.  Unfortunately, it happens far too often, with the parents becoming unwilling members of that community that have experienced the same tragedy, with a sharing of pain, guilt, and anger.  While grief has a way of healing, the empty feeling never quite goes away, with thoughts ever present of what might have been. Shortly after Emily's passing, Suzanne became quite ill, which we attributed to a mixture of grief and sadness.  Each morning, for her, presented renewed symptoms of malaise and fatigue, typically unlike herself, a vigorous and active young woman.  Had she developed a stress ulcer?  Suzanne decided to visit her physician, Dr. John LaFerla who she had been seeing since we moved to Roche