Boxers or Briefs?
You’ve been wearing the same banana hammock for as long as you can remember. They’ve been fine for years. No beefs. Then, all of a sudden, like a left hook outta nowhere, you…
The Ultimate “Green” Book
It’s the age of “green” no doubt about it. Houses, cars, and even lifestyles with small carbon footprints are part of a larger deeper, planetary respect. You may know of green pencils (from…
That Azoospermic Feeling
At the beginning of the office visit, I like to ask men with no sperm in the ejaculate who are unable to conceive a simple question: “What crossed your mind when you first…
Through the Looking-Glass
They called again and want to talk. Similar to a strict parent who gives you little clue as to where they stand, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) wants to have a conversation….
The Condom Cha Cha
It is hilarious and it happened again recently. I had just finished his quick and painless no scalpel vasectomy and was about to hand him his signed “diploma” (really) for “meritorious performance and…
We are the Walrus
Admittedly, he was an unusual patient. It was not only his generous size (2700 lb) but also his lack of clear speech in any discernable language that distinguished him from others I’ve treated….
Bringing It Home
The workday was winding down. I made a cup of tea and pulled up the dashboard on my computer to review the progress of my patients after surgery. Everyone was progressing beautifully…but one….
The Orchid in the Arctic
Imagine taking a tiny skin biopsy from the arm of a man who, even while you are taking it (which can’t be pleasant) offers you a warm, reassuring smile. For this man, getting…
The Solitary Life
He called me from rural northern California and the phone conversation went something like this: “Er… hello. I…I was wondering if you could help me.” “Sure, sir, how can I help you?” “Well…I’m…
Weed Worries
A good rule to follow in medicine when evaluating whether research should be translated into clinical care is “reproducibility.” Good research, that is research that is likely to end up as “true fact”…













