Back in 2008, in the summer between semesters at graduate school, I took an internship with the Men’s Health Network (MHN) in Washington, D.C. I had no idea then how transformative it would be. Looking back now, it was a reality check of sorts. In the semester before my internship, I took a class on...Continue reading
Tag: sperm retrieval
Making Mapping Matter
She approached the microphone slowly from the back of the room, appearing to float, wrapped in her colorful hijab. A doctor from Pakistan, she had some questions and a comment after hearing my talk. A Kind Interrogation “Your Sperm Mapping technique for azoospermic men” she stated softly, “is it done under just local anesthesia?” “Yes,” I responded....Continue reading
MicroTESE vs. FNA Mapping: Medieval or Modern?
Put two experts in a room and give each of them the same problem to solve. What you’ll find is that they typically use similar “knowledge structures” and “heuristic strategies” (i.e. organized and principled thinking) and then proceed to break the problem into smaller, more digestible ones to solve it. But, despite similar cognitive approaches, the solutions...Continue reading
Care = Knowledge + Gut = Babies
There is a lot of “information” out there nowadays. It all started way back when we humans started talking. Then came the written word, and then television, and now it’s the world-wide-web, that great wellspring of all things knowable. Thomas Jefferson considered information the “currency of democracy,” and Ronald Reagan termed it the “oxygen of the...Continue reading
Sperm Archaeology
“I heard that that you can get sperm from a rock,” said the patient. Eyebrows raised, I responded: “Actually, I’ve never tried.” But his statement did get me thinking: I am a sperm archaeologist of sorts. Sands of Time Growing up, who hasn’t thought about being archeologist at some point? Sifting through sand in exotic...Continue reading
A Fighting Chance to Be Fertile
The case of the month is an actual patient from The Turek Clinic. He arrived exhausted after a flight from Shanghai. We had talked over the phone several times earlier and he decided that he had to try once more before throwing in the towel on becoming a biological Dad.