Some great saves
In this newsletter, graduations, World Cup, Soccer, fatherhood, grand rounds
Hello, happy Juneteenth! How are you? I’m still psychically reeling from two graduations (5th and 8th) and two birthdays (11 and my 44th) all unfolding over the final week of May. My heart! I cried all the tears at the graduation ceremonies—they played Joni Mitchell’s Circle Game at the 8th grade graduation, and I became a puddle. I felt very grateful for the parents who made the graduations so moving and beautiful.
Now it’s almost Father’s Day, and the World Cup has begun. As Joni says, we are captive on the carousel of time! My dad and I went to see the new movie Power Ballad which was a nice early Father’s Day treat. The movie is set in Ireland (a pleasant surprise to us!), and explores songwriting and fatherhood. I am surprised that the ultimate dad—Odysseus—will not be on the big screen until later in July. I was convinced that The Odyssey was coming out this weekend. Oh well, we have the World Cup to tide us over.
Are you watching the World Cup? I have World Cup fever, which recrudesces every 4 years. I originally contracted it in 2022, and wrote a love letter to the World Cup. I even talked about it on All Things Considered. There are so many moments of joy this year:
Vozinha, the goalkeeper for Cape Verde, blocking 7 shots. And now the news story that his mother will be able to come after all.
Watching the Norway v Iraq game I was struck by how the players were all smiles when they gathered for corner kicks. They all seemed really happy just to be there.
Messi’s hat trick, of course
The goalkeeper Rangel from Mexico with his double save!
I could go on. What are your favorite moments so far?
Speaking of fevers and glimmers of joy, a couple of years ago I floated the idea of including a “grand rounds”/medical updates section in this newsletter, and then promptly forgot. But some really joyful news came out this week in the Lancet where researchers looked at the impact of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine introduction on cervical cancer deaths in England. HPV is a virus that is associated with cervical, oropharyngeal and other cancers, and the vaccine for it has been out for 20+ years now. (I remember getting the Gardasil vaccine during med school in 2005.)
So, how are things looking twenty years later? Things are looking good guys! Look at the green bar. Amazing. Here is the link to the article, and the BBC coverage. I guess we won’t see the impact of the vaccine on head and neck cancer for a while, but it will be such a win if and when those cancers follow similar trends.
In the spirit of victories, soccer, great saves and fatherhood, I rounded up some soccer books. The Keeper by Kelcey Ervick is an awesome graphic memoir about soccer. I’m currently alternating between reading the romance novel Abby Offsides and the sports reporter/fatherhood/mental health memoir Legs Hearts Minds. I’m enjoying both.
Have you had a chance to check out See One, Do One, Teach One or More than a Million yet? I have loved getting photos of kids reading both! (Even though SODOTO has quite mature topics!) The Intima published a nice review of SODOTO. And More than a Million was reviewed in the print Wall Street Journal.
I had a great time chatting with Curious Clinicians Podcast! You can check out the episode below. One of the hosts just had a really cool interactive piece in the NYT about circulation. Thanks Curious Clinicians!
Thanks for reading, hope you have a nice weekend. Let me know your thoughts on all things World Cup, romance novels, HPV, etc.
Oh my goodness, I had never heard Circle Game and now I’m sobbing.
Loved the memoir!