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Singles Tennis Means Never Having to Say You’re Sorry!

By Linda | August 1, 2013

I go both ways, that is on the tennis court. I still enjoy both singles and doubles play.

Most women my age are avowed doubles players.  Doubles, they say, is a more cerebral game, requires less running, and is more social.  That may all be true.  But the one thing that singles has way over doubles is never having to say you are “sorry.”

Team sports, such as doubles tennis, require that you depend heavily on others to cover the territory when you cannot.  To read your mind.  To know your partner’s and opponents strengths and weaknesses.  This is true of any team sport.  And in doubles, where the team is just two people, the pressure to perform is that much greater. Read More »

Posted in The Confessional, Travels with Linda | Tagged Add new tag, doubles tennis, Martha's vineyard, singles tennis, tennis | 1 Comment

Am I a Racist? Are You a Racist?

By Linda | July 22, 2013

Take your pick of medium:  TV, radio, podcasts, internet, face book, twitter, newsprint, blogs, email, etc.  No escape for anyone from the Zimmerman-Martin case.  And just articulating that sentiment bought upon me the label of “racist.”

How did this come about?  After 12 long hours in the OR, in a rare moment of insanity, I sat down and turned on the TV.  Intending to turn on the Turner Classic Movie channel, I had a glimpse of the protests of the verdict. I couldn’t stop watching and heard analyses, reactions and replays of key moments in the trial.

I shared my feeling of weariness of the day and the news coverage with someone close to me who railed at me for being a “racist.” Read More »

Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments

Office Clean Up Brings on a Flood of Memories

By Linda | July 15, 2013

Last month we experienced yet another basement flood.  “How could this possibly happen?” we asked ourselves after we got the call while traveling.  We had taken enormous steps after the last flood just a few years ago.  That flood was caused by sewer overflow (thankfully clean water) from inadequate town sewers.  A huge rain overwhelmed the extra pumps that were deployed by the town.

After complaining to the town about the almost 100 year old sewers, we re-engineered our basement’s water system as a hedge against their response, “There’s no money to upgrade.”  We removed the toilet and sink; cement of the drain was used to prevent back flow.  We put a one way valve on the utility sink in the laundry room preventing use of water for washing clothes unless it was turned on.  And, of course, we had the two sump pumps upgraded. Read More »

Posted in Anger Management, Flashbacks, The Confessional | Tagged disruptive physician, memories | 2 Comments

Drunk on Martha’s Vineyard–Roses, Hydrangeas, and Honeysuckle, Oh My!

By Linda | July 11, 2013

One of the highlights of my summer is spending time at our summer retreat on Martha’s Vineyard. This year we went for a few days around July 4th.  The rains of the preceding two weeks had stopped and the greenery was more lush than it usually looks in August, when we usually visit.

While the many colors of huge hydrangeas never ceased to cause our heads to turn (a dangerous activity when on a bike or a driver in the car), it was the smells in the air that were the most distracting and filled our usually underwhelmed senses of smell with a beautiful memory that has yet to fade, even as I sit in Logan airport waiting to fly back to Buffalo.  The sense of smell is like that.  It is a very old sense (evolutionarily speaking) which lingers in the memory, often conjured up from past pleasantly as a smell from grandma’s cooking.  Alas, it is the sense most underdeveloped in humans. Read More »

Posted in Travels with Linda | Tagged aromas, honeysuckle, Martha's vineyard | 1 Comment

See Dana Run! A Newbie Half-Marathoner with a Mission

By Linda | July 9, 2013

Running, like in long-distance-marathon running, has never been part of our family exercise culture. Skiing, tennis, biking, kayaking, swimming, gym exercise equipment, yoga, and pilates are more likely choices for this averagely active group.  (Lest I mis-lead or mis-represent, the youngest of three, Becca, does regularly run 3 or so miles, but not yet marathon grade.)

So when our middle child, Dana, an avowed non-runner, proclaimed she was going to run a half-marathon this fall, I was more than a bit surprised.  Here, in her words, is what she is doing and why, and how you can be part of her footwork and her fundraising! Read More »

Posted in My Family/My DNA, The Confessional, Worthy Causes | Tagged challenges, fundraiser, Marathon runner | Leave a comment

Happy Birthday Milton! A Miracle of Modern Medicine

By Linda | July 1, 2013

My father turned 85 years old today.  This past weekend I went to Miami to see how he was doing just days after his being released from the hospital for another “tune up.”  He was having trouble breathing for weeks.  It sounded like fluid overload and heart failure.  Finally he gave in and when he really couldn’t breathe he ended up in emergency for admission.

Milton has had a “heart condition” for the last 35 years.  I remember when he had his first by-pass, and the doctors told us he didn’t have many years left.  And it was about 10 years later when he received one of the first implantable defibrillators–and again we were given a guarded prognosis.  At least four time since then, three in the past year, that defibrillator has saved his life.

Then there were more grafts and some stents, when, I cannot recall.  “His heart is failing,” I was told 10 years ago. I have lost track of the number of times he was rushed to the Aventura hospital for his heart.  Every time we worry; every time he has walked out on his own two feet.

Read More »

Posted in My Family/My DNA, Telling Stories | Tagged Happy birthday, heart disease, parents | 6 Comments

Conflict Creates Progress–Don’t Let the Unpleasant Get in the Way of “Better”

By Linda | June 26, 2013

“The Emperor Has No Clothes!” the child cried while all others marveled at the finery the Emperor was supposed to be wearing.  No one wanted to speak the truth and face the consequences of conflict with the powerful man.  This child’s fairy tale continues to haunt us everyday in so many aspects of our life.  We shy away from conflict especially when new ideas are introduced that collide with our world view or make us feel uncomfortable.

I was reminded of this important truth by a colleague who sent me a story about a woman scientist, Alice Stewart, who in the 1950s observed that children of more affluent mothers were dying from cancer at twice the rate of those who were less affluent.  The cause?  X-ray during pregnancy.  The idea that new technology and the doctors using it could actually make us sick was not well formed at that time.  She engaged a colleague, an epidemiologist , George, to prove her wrong.  Unfortunately, he did not.  And even with her proven theory, two decades would pass before x-rays in pregnancy would be a thing of the past. Read More »

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

The Perfect Re-Union: Bowdoin College, the Kismet Inn and Me

By Linda | June 11, 2013

I have a confession.  Although I am not a Bowdoin graduate, every 5 years I love going as the spouse to my husband’s reunion.  A once sleepy liberal arts college tucked away in the pines of Brunswick, ME, Bowdoin has grown into a top rated and highly sought after school for the smartest young minds in the country.

I have another confession.  I love small, interesting B&B’s.  And 5 years ago, we found the Kismet Inn in Bath, ME, just up the road from Brunswick and Bowdoin. Innkeeper, Shadi Towfighi, is an ex-pat from Iran.  Her hospitality is only exceeded by her political insights and her ability to give an incredible full body exfoliation skin treatment.  Shedding layers of skin, I now practically glow in the dark.  And I cannot reminisce about our time without mentioning her mother’s special recipe for saffron eggs an experience representative of her all organic approach to meals.  Read More »

Posted in The Confessional, Travels with Linda | Tagged Bowdoin College, college reunions, Dana Mayo, Kismet Inn | 2 Comments

Adventures and Misadventures in the Negev (Desert) in Israel

By Linda | May 26, 2013

Israel is a place of surprising contrasts.  Let’s take the desert, called the Negev.  As we drove south from Jerusalem, compared to our last trip in that region 8 years ago, much more of it had been transformed into agricultural fields of wheat, vineyards, and groves of fruit and olive trees.

Along with the agriculture, new settlements of students who go to university in the desert are supported and then decide to make their lives there.  This program, the Ayalim Foundation, is run, in part, by our new cousin-in-law, Yonatan Glicksberg, who this week, married our niece, Orianne Partem, an up-and-coming Israeli actress.  The Greenfield family came from 3 continents to celebrate the event. Read More »

Posted in Travels with Linda | Tagged Israel, Maktesh, Negev, Wedding in the desert | Leave a comment

You Don’t Have to Snore to Have Serious Sleep Apnea! Think Occult Laryngomalacia (OLM)

By Linda | May 14, 2013

Sleep apnea–partial or total obstruction of breathing during sleep–is an increasing, and largely unrecognized, health problem.  Sleep apnea is not just annoying to bed partners, but has enormous negative effects on our hearts, causing early heart disease, heart attacks and heart failure.  Sleep apnea is associated with mood disorders, depression and cognitive dysfunction.  Sleep apnea is responsible for many motor vehicle accidents.

When we think sleep apnea, we think loud snoring.  We think obese.  We think short, thick neck.  We don’t think of kids (in whom people think snoring might be “cute” or normal).  And we certainly don’t think of tall skinny kids with long necks who cannot breathe at night and sometimes when they run around during the day.

In children, large tonsils and adenoids are to blame in most cases (why these tonsils and adenoids become enlarged has consumed much of my academic research life, but is beyond the scope of this post). In some children and adults, being overweight can increase the risk of having sleep apnea.  But that’s not all there is to it, unfortunately. Read More »

Posted in On the Job | Tagged laryngomalcia, occult laryngomalacia, sleep apnea, sleep disordered breathing | Leave a comment
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    Linda Brodsky, MD
    Linda Brodsky Respected Pediatric Surgeon, Advocate and Mentor for the Next Generation of Women Doctors, and Founder of Women MD Resources

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