3 days agoIt’s increasingly clear that it’s not safe to be pregnant in states with abortion bans.As it becomes increasingly clear that it’s not safe to be pregnant in states with abortion bans, I wanted to take a moment to continue discussing exactly why and how that’s the case, from making miscarriage effectively illegal to refusing to address the fact the United States is one of…Abortion5 min readAbortion5 min read
May 21He made sure we saw the gun on his hip.Honestly, I’m surprised it took as long as it did for one of these stories to happen. Yesterday, while out knocking on doors in rural western Albemarle county, I noticed a man keeping an eye on me as I approached one of his neighbors. I was pretty conspicuous and hard…Extremism5 min readExtremism5 min read
May 16Making miscarriage illegal: How the North Carolina ban affects us allNorth Carolina is about to vote on whether to override Governor Roy Cooper’s veto of one of the worst anti-abortion bills in the country. I want to use my experience as an ER Nurse, providing emergent abortion care, to illustrate how horrifying this bill is. And it is BAD. Miscarriages…Abortion4 min readAbortion4 min read
May 14A tale of two mothers on Mother’s DayThis Mother’s Day, I can’t let the day go by without mentioning two moms, without whom my life and our family wouldn’t be possible. First, my mom. She’s the one who pushed me to apply to nursing school at UVA! I was skeptical; I was happy at Virginia Western Community…Mothers Day2 min readMothers Day2 min read
May 3Preventative medicine just saved my life.Shortly after I turned thirty, I went to see my primary care provider for my yearly physical. After going over the normal litany of questions and comments that comes with a checkup, he brought something to my attention. “You know,” he said, “you have a few moles, and you’re pretty…Cancer6 min readCancer6 min read
Apr 24Grace and dignity, at the very end.Last week, I had a candidate forum with the Virginia Education Association. It was an hour of discussing the issues, what we need to do to address the issues of the day for public schools, our kids, and our communities. It was cordial, informative, and a lot of fun. I…Death And Dying5 min readDeath And Dying5 min read
Apr 21“You will never own a home. That’s the deal you made when you were born.”Ten years ago today, my wife and I were able to make good on a central tenet of the American dream, one we’d been taught would be a foregone conclusion for us when we got old enough- we turned from renters into homeowners. Doing that involved a LOT of hard…American Dream6 min readAmerican Dream6 min read
Apr 3My mom has incurable cancer.I have some news I’ve been sitting on, which I want to get out there, just so I can address it personally. My mom has incurable cancer. This January, I was blearily trudging through a sleep-deprived morning of campaign work following a night shift in the ER, calling donors and…Cancer5 min readCancer5 min read
Mar 14An ER Nurse reflects on three years of hell.Three years ago, stay at home orders started coming down the pike, from universities, workplaces, schools, and governors. The healthcare system in New York City was already straining under the weight of would end up being thousands of deaths in just a couple weeks’ time. Lombardy, in Italy, still hadn’t…Covid-195 min readCovid-195 min read
Feb 17The incredible bravery of Senator John Fetterman.I opened my phone up yesterday to discover the news that Senator John Fetterman had sought inpatient treatment for clinical depression. I sat and stared at my phone for a few minutes, speechless and awash from a veritable firehose of competing emotions. Working in the emergency services puts my colleagues…PTSD3 min readPTSD3 min read
