I've been pretty excited about this book and I think you will be too... 

  Egorn galloped, unaware of the houses and cars that coalesced from the mist and now surrounded him. He had to get to her. Emotions flooded his body. He was getting out of breath, his heart was hammering, his mind whirled with the disparaging admission that he was not going to make it.  And then, something clicked, and centuries of training took over. His breath steadied and his gallop lost its frenzy but not its speed. His mind cleared with the exception of one very vital fact. He would do anything to save her. And he was not even sure who she was.

Available now on Amazon

  The second book of the Oath series is about ready. It's a longer process than I realized to get a book from my imagination into an honest-to-goodness, actual black print on white pages paperback. It involves beta readers, an editor, a cover artist and a lot of hard work. Do you know what the easy part is? 
  Picking out where the proceeds should go. The proceeds from the first book go to the Children's Advocacy Center. Book two....Everything goes to Pediplace. They provide healthcare to the children of North Texas who would otherwise have limited access to medical care. Yeah, that's pretty awesome. 
  Years ago, I did volunteer work as a pediatrician at Pediplace. At first, I thought it was pretty much the same as taking care of children at my clinic. The rooms had exam tables, otoscopes and tongue depressors. The patients had infected ears, tummy aches and high fevers. The differences were not obvious at first. Would you like to know what I found?

  Their sample closet of free medications was much smaller than ours. Now, these days, drug reps don't hand out a lot of free anything. But back in the day...at Kids First, we had lots of asthma meds, antibiotics...even diaper creams. And we could give them out to patients that needed help - those that couldn't afford the medicines. But the closet at Pediplace was woefully bare. Drug reps typically didn't drop off samples to this clinic.
  What else was different? One day, I was waving goodbye to a family after their child’s well exam. The little boy was crying so I knew he had received his shots. But something was missing. THE BANDAID. You know...bugs bunny, superman, pink camo. It's part of the deal. I pulled the assistant aside and reminded her. She whispered that the clinic had made cuts that month, couldn't afford bandaids. WHAT?
  Want to hear the craziest part? One day, I inadvertently discovered that the staff had not been paid in several weeks. As in NO PAY CHECK! And they were still working... loving on and taking care of those children...while desperately hoping for donations to go up so they could get a check and then pay their own bills- like rent and electricity! 

  Pediplace has come a long way since those days. But if you've lived here for sometime, you're probably not surprised. Our community takes care of their own. So here's how it works... You buy a book, prop your feet up and read a good story. All the proceeds from the book sales go to Pediplace. So they can keep curing tummy aches, soothing sore throats and...putting bandaids on boo-boos. And that's what real magic looks like.

Friday 7:55am  Dr. Kalpana Kelkar’s phone intercom flashed on and Crystal’s voice came over, “Are you there yet?”

  “Yea, whatsup?”

  “MJ is taking your patient back but I’m afraid someone followed them into the back office.”

  “Got it” she replied, grabbing her stethoscope. She glanced down at the result of a blood count and made a note to herself to repeat another set of labs as she made her way down the hallway. After setting her laptop down at the nurse’s station, she pivoted and followed two sari-clad Indian women. The women walked in unison, trailing behind the family being led into an examination room.

  Dr Tricia Sias, new to the practice, turned her head down the hallway, curious to see why Kalpana had abandoned both her stethoscope and her laptop behind. What she saw left her speechless...

  Kalpana reached into a pocket of the lining of one of the woman’s saris. She retrieved two knives and, without hesitation, flung them straight ahead. Anticipating the move, the Indian women parted and leaned outward, avoiding the sharp blades that whizzed past their shoulders. The knives narrowly missed the family who’d been hurried into one of the examination rooms and struck the man instead.

  He writhed and twisted against the steel that pierced his shirt sleeve and pant leg, anchoring him onto the wooden door (and putting unnecessary holes and scratches into the vision chart). In a flash of swirling colored saris, the Indian women rushed forward, detached him, and then escorted him out the back door.

  Kalpana glanced over her shoulder and found Tricia looking both stunned and confused. “I guess Badaracco hasn’t updated you yet?”

  “What? What just happened?”

  “Talk to Badaracco...”  And with that, she opened the door of the exam room and entered with a cheery “Hellooo, how is everyone today?”

  Tricia returned to the nurses’ station with her mouth dropped open. “Did anyone see that? What’s going on?” The pitch of Tricia’s voice was higher than normal and a pink flush colored her cheeks. Blank faces returned her gaze. ‘Didn’t anyone see Dr Kelkar just now?…”

  MJ came from behind and took in the situation. “Dr. Badaracco has not talked to you yet? Don’t worry... everything will be fine.” She retrieved Dr. Kelkar’s abandoned laptop and headed back down the hallway.

8:20am  Dr. Susan Badaracco left the exam room shaking her head. “I had to explain that french fries don’t count for a vegetable...again” Iris motioned urgently toward the waiting drug rep who slid forward with his laptop open and ready. Susan groaned when she recognized him but then scrolled through the information on his screen.

  “Will you be signing?” he asked.

  “Of course.” Challenge accepted. This was no ordinary drug representative and Susan motioned to Dr Marla Conger before entering the next exam room, where twins with sore throat awaited her. “I just signed, you’re up next.”

  Marla also read the information, nodded to herself, and then signed with her finger on the pad before entering the room to start her nine month well visit. The rep turned on his heel and drew the laptop up to his chest as Tricia approached. “You must be Dr. Sias, I’m afraid that I don’t have you in my system yet.”

Tricia frowned. It appeared he was hiding something from her but what?

8:30am  Sensing something amiss but unsure what to do next, Tricia walked into her next exam room (a thirteen year well visit who also wanted to get her opinion on hoover boards)​

  Susan finished reassuring an anxious mom and then rushed down the hallway to the office of the clinic administrator. Lisa Hobbs invited her in. “We have a problem,” she began.

We're moving to a new office. Not a big deal, right? 
Wrong. 
Packing up. Finding a new work flow. All daunting.
But what has impacted us the most are the memories that each room holds  of all the children we have taken care of. I've been writing down some of the tales. Silly stories with funny kids.  Part of the reason we all went into pediatrics is how we love to laugh.
I know it's a big deal when you move homes but frankly, this has hit me harder. I think it's because we have the privilege of seeing families at their most emotional moments. Overwhelmed, intimidated and...delighted parents of newborns. Tired toddlers with fevers who've not slept well. Depressed teenagers accompanied by parents whose eyes reflect how scared they are to see their child in such a state. 
Life concentrated into short segments. 
Memories, once layered one on top of another, now bubble over when I walk down the hallway. 
Here's the really good news. 
Soon...children's laughter will permeate the hollow echoes of the new building. The perfect paint job will be marred by a few dents from the urgent maneuvering of the oxygen tank. The aroma of coffee and sometimes burnt popcorn will replace the new smells of construction. Staff will personalize their work spaces with photos, calendars and checklists. We'll side-step around run-away toddlers on our way down a hallway, wave to a familiar face before we step in an exam room...and then we'll do our best to listen, comfort, educate, treat...
And, in no time at all, we'll feel like we're home again.

I've been cleaning my desk since we're moving to a new office. Clearing files of outdated medical information...here's information on child abuse that is, sadly, not out of date...
-In 1866 the Society for the prevention of cruelty to animals was created. Legislation to prevent cruelty to children wasn't passed until 1974.
-In 1999, child abuse was the number one cause of death in children under age 1.
-Most cases of sexual child abuse (over 90%) do not involve a stranger. 
-Sexual child abusers are often intelligent, admired and cohesive. They used the internet to educate themselves and promote their actions. They also used the internet to teach each other how to successful attract children and gain their trust. 
-Sexual abuse does not start with the genitals, children are taught not to let anyone pull down their pants. They often start with the mouth.
-Single mothers, especially those with latch-key children are a common target. The pedophile will befriend the mother and offer to help her out...eventually gaining her trust. They look for a child with low self-esteem and then compliment them, buy them gifts and spend time with them. Disney movies evolve to movies with more explicit scenes. 
-Successful pedophiles (those that don't get caught) are smart. We have to be smarter.
-Educating one adult about sexual abuse can prevent ten cases. 
If you're interested in how to recognize and prevent child abuse, you can receive training at the Children's Advocacy Center of Denton County.