Dr. Lisa's Bountiful Life

Sports Medicine & Father's Day

My father was one of my earliest sports heroes.

Dad is a humble man, and rarely speaks of his athletic prowess. However, those who “knew him when” have shared stories of his baseball skills while at St. Louis High School in Biddeford, and of his football team captaincy while at the University of Maine.

Dad’s skill on the playing field, and love of physical pursuits, has been passed down to his children and grandchildren.

We have become marathoners and yoga instructors; Little League all-stars and nationally ranked swimming competitors.

For most of us, it is less about the win, than it is about the game.

We like being part of the action.

It is important for each of us to find a way to be "part of the action."

Some people naturally gravitate toward group sports, while others prefer more solo pursuits.

There is no one cookie cutter approach to physical activity that can be easily applied to all people.

This week on the Dr. Lisa Radio Hour, we acknowledge this reality through our conversations with Dr. John Herzog, Mike Chapman, Jim Greatorex, Stan Skolfield and Jared Buzzell. Each of our guests has a slightly different take on how individuals can best achieve optimal physical health.

They are all similar, however, in their view that optimal physical health is entirely possible—no matter what our genetic makeup or family background.

My father was one of my earliest sports heroes, not because he was good at what he did, but because he loved what he did.

He still does. He loves to work and he loves to play.

Above all, he loves to share his life with his family.

Happy fathers day to Charlie Belisle—the best dad a girl could hope for.

Thank you for being my hero, in every way.

We hope your enjoy our "Sports Medicine" show this Sunday this Sunday on the Dr. Lisa Radio Hour & Podcast. Featured guests include Dr. John Herzog, Orthopedic Surgeon, Orthopedic Specialists, LLC., Jared Buzzell & Stan Skolfield from the Orthopedic Associaties Performance Center, and Mike Chapman and Jim Greatorex, Premier Sports Health & Black Bear Medical. We will be talking about various techniques in sports medicine and pain management. Please join us. 

On Sunday, June 23, tune in for our podcast "Maine Home + Design Show" on the Dr. Lisa Radio Hour & Podcast. 

Embracing

Have you had your heart broken?

Me, too.

I doubt there is a human alive who can claim differently.

We who chose to love are choosing to make ourselves vulnerable to heartbreak. 

Even as we are opening ourselves to joy.

The joy that comes from loving is due in part to knowing that we are connected to all others who have chosen to love. 

As philosopher Martin Buber wrote, "“The world is not comprehensible, but it is embraceable through the embracing of one of its beings.” 

Buber described the difference between "I-Thou" and "I-It" relationships.

When we see another person as an "It" object, we are unable to recognize that person's humanity. We keep him at a distance.

When we embrace that person as a "Thou," we are better able to understand our commonality.

As a doctor, and a human, I am highly aware of my vulnerability.

I hear my patients stories, and from them I hear my story.

I feel my heart break, even as I feel their hearts break.

I also feel their joy.

Each week, I share some of this joy--and this heartbreak--with listeners of our radio show.

One of this week's guests, a mother whose college-aged son committed suicide eight years ago, caused me to feel intensely vulnerable.

My own son is currently a college student. I love him as fiercely as any mother might.

I know that by loving him--by loving anyone--I put myself at risk for loss.

Yet I chose to embrace him.

I chose to embrace the mother who shared her story, and know her as "I-Thou," rather than believe that her story is unique to her, and could never become my story.

I invite you to join me in this embracing.

 

Embracing

August 2012

Listen to Dr. Lisa's conversation with Michael Chase, best-selling author and founder of The Kindness Center, and Sandra Fisher, suicide prevention advocate and mother, this Sunday on the Dr. Lisa Radio Hour & Podcast.

Mother, Becoming

I have many roles, and many titles, but mother is the one I take most seriously.

It has caused me to approach medicine in a different way.

It has caused me to approach many things in a different way.

My son, now nineteen and a biochemistry/Spanish major at the University of Maine, is home on college break this week. Every time he returns to my house, I am afforded the chance to reflect on parenting.

Conversations with mi hijo (as I affectionately call my son, in homage to his love of Spanish and year spent in Guatemala) remind me of the person I once was,  and how that person has merged into the one I will always be in the process of "becoming."

We are, all of us, constantly "becoming."

As a college student, I spent years doing research on cancer and a blood disoder called monoclonal gammopathy. This complemented well my pre-med courses and my interest in understanding biology.

My son learned yesterday that he will spend this summer doing biology research at Maine's Bigelow Lab, through a National Science Foundation program for undergraduates. 

I see in mi hijo the fascination with how things work that I myself have always had.

More accurately, perhaps, it is why things work the way they do that fascinates us both.

As a college student, I may have thought that this fascination would wane by the time I had reached adulthood--certainly by the time I had a college student of my own.

Perhaps I might finally have found wisdom and a thoroughness of knowledge.

And yet I have found so many more things to learn and experience.

Which, truly, is the wisdom of living: that life is vast and endless in its multiplicity of connections.

My son is at the beginning of what will no doubt be a long and interesting journey.

He may follow in my footsteps as a doctor, or not.

He will approach the world in his own unique way.

His becoming enriches my becoming.

Mother I am, and student, both.

 

Central Park, NYC

February 2013

The Dr. Lisa Radio Hour & Podcast airs each Sunday at 7 am & noon. Download the podcast through iTunes. 

Peacemakers & Presidents Day

"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God."

These words, from the Gospel of Matthew, came from the Sermon on the Mount.

Part of the 'beatitudes,' they represent the commentary of Jesus upon groups of people who might not consider themselves blessed: the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek.

The list goes on.

Why did one of the world's great spiritual leaders need to suggest that peacemaking was a noble enterprise?

Because the reward of peacemaking does not often come in one's own lifetime. I am reminded of this today, as we celebrate Presidents Day: a commemoration of our country's leaders, many of whom sought peace for our nation.

Many peacemakers, presidential or otherwise, find little in the way of immediate life satisfaction.

Some peacemaking lives are, in fact, cut short by those who do not appreciate the type of peace that they are attempting to manifest. Lincoln, JFK and others come to mind.

We all, whether we may realize it or not, resist ideas that seem foreign to us.

Some of us resist it so strongly that we feel called to violence.

Peacemakers often represent unpopular views. They are considered rebellious and dangerous. 

They bear the brunt of ridicule.

They are called weak, unrealistic and naive.

Yet without them, and their sacrifices, we would not see social change.

Without the peacemakers, we would not be inspired to seek peace within our own lives and within our culture.

The peacemakers remind us that peace is not passivity. It is not conflict avoidance.

It is not pretending that all is well.

Peacemaking is a conscious decision to pursue ideals for the greater good.

It is a decision to exercise compassion and love for humanity.

Even when exercising compassion and love causes personal strife.

On the Dr. Lisa Radio Hour & Podcast last Sunday, I interviewed psychologist Dr. Ross Greene, who works collaboratively with children who have been cast aside as troublemakers.

He champions a disenfranchised group, rather than see them sent to juvenile detention or jail.

His approach has called for great fortitude and patience.  

A true peacemaker, he.

I was struck by his willingness to engage with those who others consider difficult. This is the ultimate love of fellow man.

Blessed are the peacemakers.

One day, perhaps not in their lifetimes, they will be called children of God.

Chichen Itza, Mexico

November 2012

To listen to Dr. Lisa's interview with Dr. Greene, download the Dr. Lisa Radio Hour & Podcast through iTunes.