Warts
Warts of the hands and feet are common in children. Over 25% of children will have at least one wart of the hands or feet during childhood. These childhood warts are caused by viruses and are benign (non- cancerous). About 50% of childhood warts will resolve without treatment within one year. While warts are not […]
Newborn Screening
In 2002, when I was a second year pediatrics resident in Atlanta, a three-week-old baby was transferred to my hospital with worsening sleepiness. This baby boy had been doing well for the first few weeks of life, but then he started eating poorly and became harder to wake over the course of a few days. […]
What Every Parent Needs to Know About Croup
With the first snowstorm of the year behind us it’s certainly starting to feel like winter. We hope our families have had a chance to enjoy the snow; whether that be sledding, building a snowman, or simply watching the snow fall while sipping some hot chocolate. Unfortunately with wintertime comes the dreaded respiratory illness season. […]
Stop the Bullying
Let’s change the world with simple acts of kindness. I find myself questioning WHY bullying continues in our schools today. The problem is if bullying is allowed to continue as children the BULLY will grow up to be an adult who will often be less successful in their work and family lives and possibly get […]
Soothing a Crying Baby
Our family addition is now 3 months old and I was reminded of what our 4 year old was like around that age. She smiles and coos like her brother did. But, she cries less than her brother. I think. Jerome Groopman, in a 2007 article in the New Yorker, quotes Sheila Kitzinger, a British […]
Screen Time: A Parenting Conundrum
First world parenting problem: Screen time! When I was a kid, my parents were mostly worried that if I sat too close to the TV, I would ruin my eyesight. There wasn’t a lot on to watch and plenty of commercials to inspire moving on to a new activity. But how quickly it changed! Video […]
Teens and Vaping
With the most recent news on serious lung damage due to vaping I think it is important to give parents some information on what is being seen in clinic to be able to initiate conversations at home, identify symptoms and how to address concerns with teens in relation to vaping. E-cigarettes, or vaping devices, became […]
Flu Myth Busters
With the start of the school year this means the end of summer, the start of routines and the dreaded cold and flu season. For many, this can be a worrisome time of year. I have the joy of working with many families and with the start of school I had the pleasure of seeing […]
The truth about the HPV vaccine
There has been a lot of buzz about the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccine over the past several years, both in the medical field as well as in social media. Some of the information has been pro-vaccine and other posts have warned against it. Part of my job as a pediatrician is to understand the […]
A Fond Farewell to a Wonderful Career
There are many milestones worth noting in one’s life. I am moving rapidly towards one of those milestones. On September 4, I will celebrate my retirement from 41 years as a pediatrician and 33 years at South Lake Pediatrics. It is a bittersweet time – the anticipation of more spaciousness in my life, more time […]