My knee injury isn’t a death sentence. But as a geriatric NP, I know this type of mishap could make me susceptible to deconditioning, loss of strength, and risk of falling.
“Surviving a Knee Injury at 80.” Lower Extremity Review Magazine, August, 2022.
She hasn’t, as yet, met the beaver that lives in the brook since this is her second exploration outside. Like me, she has left familiar places and faces behind. She’s trying to make sense of this terrain with its newness and unpredictability.
“The Cat.” Carolina Woman Magazine, May, 2020.
Young, thin, with long dark hair, the woman spoke about the aggressive breast cancer that would soon end her life. She had a husband, pre-school children and a hunger to live.
“Strength and Survival.” The Perennial Gen, April 13, 2019.
We . . . boarded the bus to Cabo de Roca. I grabbed a window seat. . . . I slid down in my seat and discretely put my fingers to my neck, checking my carotid pulse. The irregular rhythm ticked off around one hundred beats per minute. Not too rapid to worry me—yet.
“The Choice.” The OLLI Writer Group Anthology, September, 2018.
Having a potentially life-threatening illness had boosted my resolve to surround myself with people who would cheer me, not depress me. Dr. Green was a competent doctor technically but lacked sensitivity—something that I value in a patient-physician relationship.
“Firing My Doctor.” Pulse: Voices from the Heart of Medicine, May 31, 2018.
Eddie Foley, a frail man with thinning white hair and a perpetual smile, had been one of my favorite patients when I was a nurse practitioner at the VA. I haven’t spoken with him since I started this new job, six months ago.
“Out of the Blue.” Pulse: Voices from the Heart of Medicine, August 18, 2017.
In “Closing the Door,” a young nurse struggles between her loyalties to her patients and the medical establishment. The short story was a winner of the TulipTree’s Stories that Need to be Told Contest and is featured in the 2016 anthology, Stories that Need to be Told, which was named one of the four finalist in the 2017 Colorado Book Award, November 29, 2016.
I stopped in front of the linen closet and flicked on my flashlight. I opened the door…The blanket rose and fell with each baby breath. That’s all I need to see. I snapped off the flashlight and shut the door. The baby was still alive.
“Baby in the Closet.” Hospital Drive: A Literature and Humanities Journal of the UVA School of Medicine, Anthology, 2016.
Jeff was told he wouldn’t live to see his fortieth birthday after he survived a motorcycle accident in his late teens. When I met him for the first time, he appeared more an adolescent that a thirty-nine-year-old.
“Hello Beautiful.” Eno River Literary Journal, 2014.
How in the world could I permit the doctor to interpret my information and make his own decision? There was no way around it. I had to give this doctor a clear message: Ms. O shouldn’t be discharged.
“Invisible.” Examined Life Journal, Fall, 2012.
Do you really think they’re turtles?
“To be or not to be–a turtle.” Chapel Hill News, May 30, 2010.
Thin, nervous, his chest rising and falling quickly, he pauses to catch his breath as he speaks. ‘When I was younger and walked into a bar, everyone stopped talking. They never knew what to expect from me.’ I catch a flicker of a grin.
‘My nickname was Mad Dog.‘
“His Service Ended, but the Battles Raged On.” New York Times, July 15, 2008.
I saw your notice on the bulletin board at work by the elevators,” I said. “I am interested in taking singing lessons.
Do you sing?
In the shower, I joked feebly.
“Singing Lessons.” Urban Hiker, May, 2003.
Getting Older: Charting the Uncharted 
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