You’ll have to forgive the language– which for Kevin Hart isn’t too bad. Here he is discussing his raccoon problem.

I thought this video was pretty interesting on how our brains work and learn– particularly his term about “brain plasticity”.

We know that young children who suffer head injury can have much better outcomes than teens and adults. This has been proposed as the theory why.

What do you think? What does this bike experiment teach us about the way we think and learn?

Hello Redwood’s Fans!

On this Memorial Day– I want to take a moment to thank all those who gave their lives for our country. Thank you to the families who remain behind for your sacrifice. I know the price of freedom is steep and am grateful every day for the rights I enjoy.

May God richly bless you.

Are you enjoying the sunshine? We, in Colorado, are not. It has been the grayest, cloudiest, rainiest May that I can ever remember– which is good for me since I tend to like dark and stormy. However, I am starting to feel sorry for my fellow Coloradans who really do look forward to those sun shiny days.

Over the next several weeks– we’ll be taking a break from the medical mayhem and posting some fun, maybe even thought provoking, video clips. These are ones that I have enjoyed and hope you do to.

Enjoy the time with your family. Take a camping trip! Finish that novel you’ve dreamed of finishing.

In the mean time, I’ll be preparing great medical posts for you to enjoy after July 4th!!

Party Hard!– as we used to say in the 80s, but of course with responsibility at safety.

Jordyn

Hello Redwood’s Fans!

Still alive out there? Enjoying the spring sun?

You may or may not have heard but Colorado had a FREAK snowstorm over Mother’s Day weekend. I mean, it was blowing snow like a January blizzard. Heavy, wet, spring snow.

In case you doubt me– the photo is proof.

The next day? All melted off. Aww– the joy of Colorado living.

For you this week . . .  it’s all about deciding if some proposed medical breakthroughs are medical probabilities or just science fiction. This week we’ll cover children who have three genetic parents and transplanting someone’s head onto another body.

Have a GREAT week.

Jordyn

Hello Redwood’s Fans!

First of all– Happy Mother’s Day to all those fantastic, amazing women who are mothers and a big shout out to my own mom for all the love, attention, and care you gave me to help me become the adult I am today. I see your influence in how I raise my own girls and it is a good thing!

And for everyone else– please, pick up that phone and call your mom. From my years of working in the ER– none of us truly know how many days we have left so take time and appreciate your loved ones while you have them.

For you this week.

This week on Redwood’s Medical Edge is all about toxicology. How do we in the medical profession treat a patient who ingested something but they can’t or won’t tell us what they took? In these posts, I give you guidance on how we approach this medically and what treatments are instituted for common drugs of overdose.

Hope you have a GREAT week.

Jordyn

Hello Redwood’s Fans!

How has your week been? Mine? Just wrapped up entering Round 2 of Love Inspired’s Blurb to Book Contest. Now, the wait is on until May 15th to see if I’ll progress to Round 3. For this round, entrants had to submit a plot synopsis (which I DO hate writing) and the first three chapters.

Keeping my fingers crossed.

If I go on, I’ll have to finish the manuscript in eight weeks which is writing another fifty-thousand words. So I guess in that sense it’s like NaNoWriMo light.

The WINNER of last week’s contest is Dana M.! Congratulations on winning a copy of The Shepherd’s Song and thanks also to Betsy Duffey and Laurie Myers for guest blogging last week. I found it to be truly valuable information for authors.

Dana– e-mail me at jredwood1 @ gmail dot com and I’ll get your prize in the mail!

For you this week.

Tuesday: What exactly is slimming? Hint– it has nothing to do with weight loss. If you’re a parent of a teen or looking for a devious way to poison a character in your novel– this post is for you.

Thursday: Are ED patients selfish? Tune in for some insider thoughts from the front lines of the emergency department.

Have a great week!

Hello Redwood’s Fans!

How has Spring been treating you so far? Even though Spring ranks low on my list of favorite seasons (it would be 3/4), I do LOVE spring thunderstorms. Anyone else? Not the hide-in-your-basement-a-tornado-is-coming scary. Just the nice gentle patter of rain with flashes of light and thunder.

Anyone else?

I lived in “Tornado Alley” for thirteen years and even though there were tornadoes in Kansas when I lived there, the only two I ever saw and one that our family had to shelter from was in Colorado.

I know, right?

For you this week.

I’m so happy to get to host authors Betsy Duffey and Laurie Myers this weeks. Both have backgrounds in the medical field. Betsy is a counselor and Laurie is a nurse. They’ve written a truly lovely book of intertwined tales that surround Psalm 23. As readers of this blog know, my go to genre is suspense but I truly loved this book and its sweet stories. If you like authors like Dan Walsh or Mitch Albom then I think you’ll really enjoy their novel.

They’re visiting Redwood’s this week to celebrate the release of The Shepherd’s Song in paperback but any commentors on their blog posts this week (including this one) will be eligible to win a hardback copy. Comments will close Saturday, May 2nd at midnight MST time. Winner will be announced on Sunday, May 3rd!

Their posts will discuss addictions and the stages of grief. Great information for the novelist for character development.

Hello Redwood’s Fans!

How has your week been? Mine? Rough. Seriously– I’m battling the third illness this winter. We in medicine are still calling it winter (at least in pediatrics) because RSV has not died off yet for the season.

I don’t know what “bug” is out there but it’s been wrecking havoc and this might be the only reason I’m calling for sunshine and flowers (those who know me know I like dark and rainy) is so all these viruses go into hibernation. I’m not sure why the viral world is different from the animal world but viruses tend to die off over the summer time– or maybe not just shared as generously because people are outdoors.

On a bright writing spot– I’ve progressed to round 2 in the Love Inspired Blurb2Book Contest. This is definitely outside my writing zone. I’m good at suspense– love writing dark and scary but the romance part is always a challenge for me so I’m using this contest as a chance to hone a new writing skill. Can’t ever hurt to broaden your writing horizons.

And yes, my indie book, The Cipher’s String, will still be releasing this October!

I’m so honored this week to have my good friend Kim Zweygardt stop by to share all she knows about anesthesia, the OR and “going under”. Kim is a certified nurse anesthetist and brings a wealth of information for any novel that might have an OR scene or an OR setting. She’ll be here the next three posts.

Have a GREAT week.

Hello Redwood’s Fans!

Happy Easter to you! Today, is my second favorite holiday right behind Christmas. It’s the day Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. Have you thought about that? Ever? Really, thought about it?

To me, Easter is mind blowing. There are few people in this world that I would willingly lay my life down for. I mean, I could probably count them on one hand.

Yet, Jesus, willingly gave up his life for everyone. Even evil people– I mean serial killer types.

One of my most favorite blog posts was written about Easter. About substitution. You can read it here and I hope that among the Easter egg hunts and Sunday brunches you can ponder about how Easter came to be and what it means for you.

For you this week it’s a week of amazing medical discoveries. I depend on interesting medical breakthroughs for my novels. I like to think of the next possible step– usually a harrowing step for humanity– and I think we always have to imagine what medical breakthrough could cause potential harm. However, this week we’re celebrating new medical discoveries.

Tuesday: Using polio to kill brain cancer. It’s true. This is amazing.

Thursday. Ultrasound and Alzheimer’s. How could one help the other?

Have a blessed week.

Jordyn

A quick note to announce the winner of Bethany Macnanus’s e-book Nerve . . .

Congratulations Mattie P!

Hope you enjoy the novel and thanks so much to Bethany for your insight into genetic analysis and how it inspired your story. Can’t wait to read it myself.