Monthly Archives: August 2020

Proving Your Pain

Posted in Global Issues, Health and Wellness, Personal Growth by
Photo is of a mural of someone screaming.
Photo from Flickr

Today I called an airline for a refund on a flight I had scheduled prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was quite an ordeal.

In November 2019, I bought tickets to travel to Austin, TX, in May 2020. I had no clue that I would be diagnosed with breast cancer weeks later, how expensive cancer be as I worked to improve and maintain my quality of life, how challenging it would be to interact with medical providers and loved ones, how much pressure it is to take care of others even when I needed care, how the COVID-19 pandemic would intersect with my cancer and fertility treatment, how emotional freezing my eggs would be, and how George Floyd’s murder would place the United States’ racism under a magnifying glass in ways that reminded me of the ways others and myself have experienced racism in this country.

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Thin Blue Line Flag

Posted in Global Issues, Health and Wellness, Personal Growth by
Photo is of a wavy thin blue line and a black background.
Photo from Flickr

Have you slept well? Last night, I was writing a letter to a journalist at a local newspaper. It is The Patriot Ledger. The following is this newspaper’s post on Facebook:

If you want to learn more about the “thin blue line flag,” here is an article on it from NPR and another one from Boston.com.

This flag made it to fire trucks in my city.

As a woman of color and a cancer patient and survivor—during the COVID-19 pandemic—and during an era of reckoning with racism—I have to pick and choose how I will invest my energy.

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Racism Is a Public Health Crisis

Posted in Global Issues, Health and Wellness by
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Almost two and a half months ago, this article on racism being a public health crisis was published on Boston.com. The journalist Dialynn Dwyer quoted leading experts and hospitals such as the Dean of Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, the President of Massachusetts Medical Society, Boston Medical Center, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

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Lunch with Lindsay: Diversity and Inclusion Work During a Reckoning

Posted in Global Issues, Lunch with Lindsay, Personal Growth, Professional Development, Social Connection and Relationships by

Last week, I continued the Lunch with Lindsay video series with my friend Paty. She and I met our first year at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Almost two decades later, we reminisced on college, reflected on how we have evolved, and discussed how she approaches diversity and inclusion work during a reckoning with racism and the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Where Are the Black Perspectives?

Posted in Global Issues, Personal Growth, Social Connection and Relationships by
Photo is of waves of water set in an abstract image of orange, blue, and black bars.
Photo from Flickr

George Floyd. Breonna Taylor. Tony McDade. Ahmaud Arbery. Atatiana Jefferson … Charleena Lyles, Korryn Gaines. Philando Castile. Sandra Bland. Freddie Gray. Michael Brown, Natasha McKenna … Trayvon Martin … Rodney King … Emmett Till. 

You may be familiar with some of these names more than others. We do not know about you, but we cannot accept this list getting longer.

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The Patient and Family Advisory Council

Posted in Health and Wellness, Personal Growth by
Photo by L. Laguna

This summer, I had an appointment at my hospital. I had a negative interaction with a medical provider. It was not the worst in the world; it was not the best either. Initially, I decided not to share my feedback with the hospital, but I later opted to call and share my experience with its staff. My intention was to take a developmental approach to the situation. As the environment of this country has evolved in the past couple months, I felt responsible for doing what I can to make it better. The following is a statement I wrote as part of my application for the hospital’s advisory council for patients and families.

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On an Island

Posted in Global Issues, Health and Wellness by
Photo from Flickr

If I were to describe my life now, I would say I’m on an island. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, I have to be cautious when I wander in public. I look outside of my windows, and I see people walking on the streets and riding in cars. On any given day, people are using different levels of caution with masks, social distancing, exercising, shopping, and hanging out at the beach.

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