The proliferation of medical information on the web makes it easier than ever for patients to be informed about their health. It’s also easy to be misinformed and confused by page after page of Google results that are often confusing and contradictory. Last week I posted on Ten Reliable Sources of Health Information on the […]

Have you ever gone to a doctor’s office armed with information pertinent to your illness that you’ve gleaned from the web, only to have him (or her) do the eye roll that seems to send the message: “I don’t have time for this?” That may be changing. Everywhere these days, it seems the health care […]

It’s a pleasure to have four of my stories published over the past few months in three different anthologies. Each story, in its own way, explores the theme of traveling with chronic illness. That’s something I think about often as a stroke survivor and autoimmune patient chained to a steady diet of blood thinners to […]

I’m excited that my story “Bali Shadows” is featured this month in the fabulous travel e-zine Passionfruit.com, edited by Michele Jin. I first traveled to Bali 20 years ago “my first-ever trip to the bush, my first-ever overseas trip with Jack, a month after he slipped an engagement ring on my left hand.” I returned […]

Patients already taking the blood thinner Coumadin (warfarin), even at low doses, may not be good candidates for the clot-busting drug tPA in the event of a stroke, a new study indicates. Thrombolysis (treatment with the “clot-busting” drug tPA) in the early stages of a new stroke is often the very best hope a patient has […]

This month the National Stroke Association is sharing information about migraine and stroke, including an article from the Better Health Channel on how to tell the difference between the two. I had mild migraines (with aura) for 20 years, which I dismissed as a mere annoyance. Until I had a stroke at 48, and learned […]

I was slammed out of the blue ten years ago by a stroke that could have been prevented if I’d know the facts. Don’t let that happen to you or someone you love. Today, June 9, is APS awareness day – APS, the acronym for Antiphospholipid Syndrome, the blood clotting disorder that caused my stroke. […]

I’m excited to be part of the luscious new travel anthology Wandering in Bali: A Tropical Paradise Discovered, a collection of stories from the land of frangipani, myth, and mystery. Don’t miss our two book launch events: Saturday, June 9, 7 pm at Book Passage Corte Madera: 51 Tamal Vista Blvd., Corte Madera, CA 94925 […]

May is stroke awareness month. It’s a time to raise our awareness of the horrendous consequences of stroke and what we can do to reduce them. Most days, I don’t like to think about stroke and what it cost me. I’d rather get on with my life and focus on what I can still do–be […]

Losing the ability to communicate well is one of the most devastating effects of a stroke. It was to me, when I had a stroke in 2002. One day at the drugstore, shortly after my discharge from the hospital, the pharmacy clerk asked, “Is that Anne with an “e” or without?” I hesitated, confused by […]