If I May...

Get a little personal. Illness in the family, folks. I was called down to Charleston, SC in kind of a hurry. This is my first 'net access in a couple of days. I feel like Eloise, except instead of living in a hotel, I'm living in a hospital. The coffee shop and cafeteria ladies have seen a lot of me, but you, blog readers, have not. And probably won't for the next few days.

I highly recommend the Medical University of South Carolina. They're so friendly and excited about medicine here. They have excellent specialists in rheumatology, neurology, and coronary care. And at the same time, it's a very Scrubs-like atmosphere; everyone is young and good-looking and blond in that healthy Lowcountry way.

They give you the impression that they really care whether you get well or not, and they're not going to let you leave until they figure it out. It's unfortunate that that should be a remarkable characteristic in your medical team.

I give higher marks to the idea of just not getting sick in the first place.