The Disinheritance: How Elder Care Is Ending the Promise That Each Generation Does Better
Everyone’s been talking about the Great Wealth Transfer: the $69 to $84 trillion Baby Boomers are supposed to hand down to their kids over the next twenty years. This year The Washington Post and others finally said out loud what I see every...
Intern, Resident, Fellow, or Attending? Decoding Who’s Actually in Charge of Your Care
This October 2026 issue of The Foglight is reprinted with permission from its author, Gerda Maissel, MD, BCPA. Subscribe to her Substack here. A Fever, an ER, and Two Doctors Not long ago, the son of a client had symptoms of a urinary tract...
Fewer Infections, Happier Bladders: The Unexpected Public Health Victory
This September 2026 issue of The Foglight is reprinted with permission from its author, Gerda Maissel, MD, BCPA. Subscribe to her Substack here. Fewer Infections, Happier Bladders: The Unexpected Public Health Victory It’s easy to focus on...
Why Is It So Hard to Find a Nursing Home Bed? Your Tax Dollars and Scarcity
When a family asks me to help move their loved one into long-term care, I ask is the person currently at home, in the hospital, or in a short-term rehab facility. It matters for the family’s plan, but it doesn’t change the brutal...
Half a Sandwich in My Scrub Pocket: Managing Diabetes During a Nursing Shift.
Half a Sandwich in My Scrub Pocket: Managing Diabetes During a Nursing Shift. By Sue Adair, BSN, RN On my way to the bathroom, I would stop at the employee refrigerator, take half a sandwich and four or five baby carrots from my lunch bag...
What Patient Advocacy Really Looks Like
Patient Advocacy Goes Beyond the Basics When people hear “patient advocacy,” they may think it means reviewing medications, helping someone understand a diagnosis, or making sure a patient is safe at home. We do all of that, but...
When Clarity Changes the Direction of Care: How Understanding Alters Decisions
Better decisions rarely come from more information - they come from a clearer understanding. The Moment Before Direction Changes. Many healthcare decisions do not change even when new information emerges. They change because...
What Happens Behind the Scenes in Hospitals? Understanding How Hospitals Really Work
Whether you're preparing for an elective surgery, managing a chronic condition, or supporting a loved one in an emergency, stepping into a hospital can feel like entering a mysterious, fast-moving labyrinth. You see doctors and nurses bustling in...
What You Need to Know Before Having Surgery Abroad: A Guide to Medical Tourism
Every year, millions of people travel across international borders for medical care. Whether driven by lower out-of-pocket costs, shorter wait times, access to specialized surgeons, or procedures not readily available in their home country...
Help Them Help You: A Prepared Patient's Guide to Being Heard
If you live with a complex or chronic condition, you already know the math doesn't work in your favor. The average visit runs less than fifteen minutes, you've been waiting months to be seen, and you have months to years of symptoms, questions...
Why Patients Feel Ignored (And How to Finally Be Heard)
"I know something is wrong with my body, but every time I leave the doctor's office, I feel like I'm talking to a brick wall." If you’ve ever walked out of a medical appointment feeling dismissed, rushed, or invalidated, your experience is...
How And Why I Became A Patient Advocate
My first gig as a patient advocate occurred about 20 years ago and it was completely happenstance. A friend of my wife’s had to go on disability from her teaching job because some students had gotten into a fight and she was injured trying...
The day someone leaves the hospital is one of the most high-stakes moments in healthcare
After years as a nurse, and years sitting beside hospital beds with people I love, I've learned that the most dangerous part of a hospital stay is often the ride home. Hospital discharges happen fast. Too fast sometimes. Instructions are dense...
When the Advocate Is the One Who Needs Advocating
We are very good at this work. We know how to read a room — and a chart. We know when something is being missed, minimized, or misread. We know how to stay calm in a medical moment, how to ask the right question at the right time, and how to...
What to Expect Emotionally in the First Weeks After a Cancer Diagnosis
A cancer diagnosis doesn't just affect your body — it reshapes your entire inner world. When the doctor first says the word "cancer," the world keeps moving, but somewhere inside you, everything shifts. If you've just received a...