The starting point (V of VII): A return to the Ivory Towers

     After 6 years in the Wilkesboros I uprooted my growing family, which now included my wife, Beth; two sons, Connor and David; and a dog named Jack. I accepted a 3-year position to specialize in infectious diseases at Case Western University in Cleveland, OH. Over the next 3 years, I was trained in a highly specialized field of medicine and I practiced in tertiary medical centers. My interest in alternative medicine took a back seat to the scientific method and evidence-based western medicine. I continued to watch with interest the public’s fascination with Echinacea, vitamin C, zinc, and other remedies to stave off colds and prevent disease.

            At the end of 3 years, I accepted a position at MetroHealth Medical Center in Cleveland. My primary role has been to teach medical students and residents evidence-based medicine. My focus is on infectious diseases, HIV care, and running the county tuberculosis program. You, the reader, are now just about caught up. I have just had my 43^rd birthday and I have finally gotten the gumption to start writing about my experiences. Although I can already look back on my life and see lots of accomplishments and adventures completed, I feel the creep of middle age. Will I ever get around to doing those big adventures I dream of… exploring the Amazon, hiking the Inca trail to Machu Picchu, visiting Australia and New Zealand, and returning with my whole family to West Africa? I feel the clock ticking, but I am unable (or unwilling) to go right now because all the responsibilities of life, primarily my job and my family, 3 young children (Thayer was born in 2007). I wonder if I will be healthy enough to do and enjoy these adventures 10-15 years from now. Some mornings when I wake up, particularly after having played basketball the night before, I am not sure my body will hold up. It seems my list of chronic maladies grows by the day. With this in mind I decided it was time to try something new (or should I say “alternative”?).            

            Here is my plan. In a city teeming with world class modern medical facilities: the Cleveland Clinic, Case Western/University Hospitals, and the MetroHealth Medical Center, I plan on shunning all that I have held as true and good in favor of the dark side!  Over the next two years, I will attempt to shed my cynicism and give “alternative medicine” a true chance. Equipped with an expansive guide to alternative medicine purchased by my wife at Barnes and Nobles, I will see if my maladies can be healed. I plan on trying a new discipline of “alternative medicine” each month and to record my experiences for posterity!

[tomorrow,  a listing of what “ails” me!]