Blogging Again

Returning Home
Leslie K. Price

It has been nearly a month since I last blogged and for the month prior to that, had found myself with less time to devote to this pursuit than I would like.  In the ebb and flow of life-between the challenges of work, family, and personal needs-somethings rise up and others fall to the back by necessity.  Once the pause happened, I felt that I would only return when I felt I could potentially return to regular entries.  I am hopeful that I now can.  How did I feel when I wasn't immersed in the blogosphere?  I missed the outlet for the "connections" I made while seeing patients and carried on my day to day clinical practice.  I dearly missed writing and the reward that comes from completing a creative endeavor.  I felt I had set aside some good friends, even though these are friends I know only from their writing and their "profiles".  On some levels, I felt unburdened of the "deadlines" I had set for myself for writing and I realized (AGAIN) that the blog is for me-an outlet, a connection- and not an obligation!
So I return.  Hopefully stronger than before, with renewed vigor and interest.  I hope you are still out there reading...

The Apple Doesn't Fall...

As a woman neurosurgeon, I wear the simultaneous hats of surgeon, mother and wife (along with chef, businessperson, volunteer, leader...) so I am thrilled to announce that my daughter has started her own blog called College Kitchen.  Even if you are well beyond college, she has a great insight into cooking healthy, fast and inexpensive meals-just what every college kids needs but also what so many of us that juggle hectic lives need too.
It will be very interesting for me to watch her evolution as a blogger.  I have already shared with her the few "tricks" I have learned during my time in the blogosphere but more importantly, I have shared with her how my own blogging has transformed the way I think about each day and each encounter.  I wonder if it will have the same impact for her.  Perhaps her blog will catapult her to fame and fortune-like Julia (and Julia), maybe it will help others learn how easy it is to prepare fast but healthy food, perchance she may gain insight into a new part of herself or her future...all I know as  mother is that I am so proud of her, and specifically tickled that she now also has a blogspot address.

A Blogger Reunion

Nearly a year ago, my mother and I traveled to Poland on a roots trip and after we returned, I decided to write about our adventures (Poland-Germany Travelogue).  This blog event has had some remarkable ripples I would like to share-the power of the Blogosphere.
Several months after our trip, my mother's first cousin read the blog before he made his own trip back to Poland and was able to use our experience to help his own.  In fact, he was able to dig deep enough to identify the exact house where my great-grandfather lived and worked (and where my grandfather was born!).  He then sent us my mother photographs of this house which my mother forwarded to me.  I know this all sounds complicated but the end result is that this cousin lives very near to me and we have made plans to meet each other to exchange Poland stories! So around the globe and blogosphere to meet my second cousin!
My blog was also read by a woman who created the site on JewishGen about Smigrod and Dukla.  She has asked that she be able to link my travelogue to this website-which I gladly agreed to.  But then a few days later, she wrote and asked about an inquiry she had about a family that sounded much like mine.  While this is another fairly convoluted tale, the result was that I have made contact with one of my first cousins, who I have not seen since my grandmother died more than a decade ago.  I have now seen photos of his two lovely children and we have chatted about a number of topics.
Perhaps a generation ago, families were closer and there was more regular contact between distant cousins, I can't say, but I do know that this wild and wacky electronic world has brought me in contact with family in a whole new way.  I am sure others have similar stories.

Anniversary

I was surprised to learn that I had missed the first anniversary of my blog (December 4).  Perhaps that is in part because I started out so slowwwww and really note the start more to January than December.  I have remarked before that my goal when starting the blog was to generate excitement about a book: Heart of a Lion, Hands of a Woman: What Women Neurosurgeons Do but it has become my "therapy"-a way catharsis for the stresses of being a neurosurgeon, mother, wife and all that comes with those "jobs" and responsibilities.  Writing on a regular basis again has given me a new view of the world and my daily experiences in medicine.  I have thrilled to see that people from most corners of the globe have at least opened my blog (and perhaps read it) and that some of my pieces have seemed to strike a note in the hearts of some of my readers.  I have particularly enjoyed the opportunity to resume writing poetry and sharing my travelogue from my "Roots Adventure" in Poland/Germany.  Thanks for tuning in-hopefully 2011 will be even bigger, better and more rewarding for all.

Selfishness: Why I Blog

To be honest, I started this blog at the suggestion of a friend as a way to raise interest in (and sales of) a book I had edited (Heart of a Lion, Hands of a Woman: What Women Neurosurgeons Do).  As best I can tell, the site has been pitiful in this regard.  So why did I continue? Part of the answer is that I can't stand GIVING UP (not a neurosurgeon's nature) so I wanted to figure out how to "succeed."  So I did a little studying (of other blogs), I asked questions and I set my own goals.  Perhaps I also saw the blog like the journal I kept for many years-though a blog is obviously more public.  Another motivation may have been that I have been told many times that we, as physicians, have so many poignant stories to share about our patients (all which we swear we will remember until retirement when we have the time to properly record them).
I have come to realize that blogging forces me to filter everything I do through a different, noncomplacent lens.  Now as I pass my day as a physician, citizen, parent, child, wife I find infinite connections to write about.  It forces me to SEE my patients-their lives, their struggles, their grief through an entirely new filter-and I really think it has made me a better physician and person.

Looking at my statistics (yes, I just figured out how to do this) I am humbled and amazed in some months this blog has more than 500 views! The map view shows visitors from four continents and always the surprise at what brings the most viewers to this space.  
Many of life's journeys start on one road and detour to another.  I searched for a way to bring the outstanding and deserving voices of women neurosurgeons  to a wider audience and found a new vehicle for inner discovery.  Thanks for all those who join me (past and future) on this wild ride.

7 Post Challenge

If I have a blogger hero it has to be Suture for a Living-she single handedly inspired me to pursue my own blog, to understand how to make it work for me, and her blogs are always interesting, informative, well written and linked to others who help make the medial blogosphere worth being a part of.  As usual, she led me to the 7 Post Challenge which I just couldn't resist.

Polish Kebab Anyone???

1. My first post now seems like such a novice effort.
2. The post I enjoyed writing the most allowed me to combine man aspects of storytelling that I most like and tries to demonstrate how I as a woman/person/mother/neurosurgeon deals with the variety of patients I encounter every day.
3. A post which had great discussion...well I have to say I haven't been the most popular but writing about medical malpractice seems to generate the most notice.
4. You can always visit TBTAM for a wonderful mix of food, travel, musings or Toni Brayer, MD for insightful medical thinking.
5. Obviously none of my blogs have been life-changing-but that isn't why I am blogging so I would offer up Exercising Your Brain and Rage Against Golf as ones I think would be helpful if more people read them.
6. Titles? Perhaps I should spend more time thinking about them, I am usually most concerned with getting my thoughts down but I did have fun writing Pop, pop, fizz, fizz when Congress was failing miserably in addressing the Medicare cuts.
7. I wish more had read my blog about JAMA review of Heart of a Lion, Hands of a Woman: What Women Neurosurgeons Do because I am so proud of this book and wish the blog would encourage more people to buy it and discover the amazing talent of this group of women neurosurgeons.