Whys
I got my first tattoo out of spite and celebration on my 18th birthday with four of my friends in attendance. I wish I hadn’t. That mild regret has prevented me from ever really considering another tattoo, until now. Unlike that first tattoo story, this ink has many ‘whys’ behind it.
Why #1: the two hearts that began my career
I had learned about the structure and function of the body and perturbations in disease in classes when, as a junior in college, my physiology class went on a field trip to a pathologist’s office. The pathologist talked to us about the effects of chronic high blood pressure, including the effects on the heart. Then he passed around transverse slices through two hearts, one that had been impacted by chronic high blood pressure and one that had not. Holding those two hearts in my hands was the first time I fully grasped how the body adapts to the demands, environment, challenges, and deficits its exposed to over time. These two hearts looked drastically different from each other because they adapted to small differences in their tasks each and every day over time. These two hearts looked different from each other because they had lived different lives. I appreciated for the first time; just how dynamic our bodies really are. And I loved imagining how, not only do our bodies start out with unique differences from each other at birth, but they adapt and change to the life they live. I remember thinking “everyone needs to know this! I want to talk about this forever!” Though I had no idea at that time, or even any time in the next five years or so that that would mean I would become a teacher and an author, that moment was the seed of who I became and who I am now.
In memory of this seminal moment, I choose a heart as the cover image for my first book. One of the whys behind this tattoo is a nod to that long-ago spark of wonder as well as the book.
You can listen to me talk about that moment here: https://www.wbur.org/news/2020/01/27/lessons-learned-physiology-passion
Why #2: my own heart
I was sitting at my desk in the lab looking through the red-carpet photos from the Oscars the night before when suddenly my heart started pounding. Again. My wonky heart just did this from time to time. I planned to wait it out. I sat still with my eyes closed breathing slowly. My lab mate asked me if I was ok, and even though I reassured him that I was fine, he called a coworker Julie over to where I was sitting. I was 8 months pregnant, and my lab mate could see my chest heaving rapidly. We worked in a maternal-fetal medicine lab and Julie was an OBGYN. She took my pulse, helped me to get my gigantic, awkward body onto the floor, and took my pulse again. Then she made a phone call to the labor and delivery ward of the research hospital we worked in and asked them to prepare a bed and an EKG.
Once down on L&D, a technician applied the EKG leads as my friend and the resident doctor murmured to each other about what they thought was going on. The resident was betting on a pulmonary embolism, my friend was guessing a type of cardiac arrhythmia called supraventricular tachycardia (SVT). Once the initial read popped up on the EKG screen, it revealed a heart rate of 238 beats per minute. The resident’s eyes widened, “how is she still alive, let alone walking around?” she asked my friend (as if I wasn’t right there!) and my friend answered, “she’s a runner.” At this moment, I thanked my years of running for saving my life, and the life of my daughter inside me.
In that moment I learned something about strength and resiliency. I learned that we may have weaknesses or things may happen that you didn’t plan on. But the effort you put into your own strength every day can literally save you (and maybe someone else too!). My arrhythmia has been cured through ablation (a type of cardiac surgery) and it is ferociously healthy now. I will keep working toward stronger every day that I am able.
Whys
I got my first tattoo out of spite and celebration on my 18th birthday with four of my friends in attendance. I wish I hadn’t. That mild regret has prevented me from ever really considering another tattoo, until now. Unlike that first tattoo story, this ink has many ‘whys’ behind it.
Why #1: the two hearts that began my career
I had learned about the structure and function of the body and perturbations in disease in classes when, as a junior in college, my physiology class went on a field trip to a pathologist’s office. The pathologist talked to us about the effects of chronic high blood pressure, including the effects on the heart. Then he passed around transverse slices through two hearts, one that had been impacted by chronic high blood pressure and one that had not. Holding those two hearts in my hands was the first time I fully grasped how the body adapts to the demands, environment, challenges, and deficits its exposed to over time. These two hearts looked drastically different from each other because they adapted to small differences in their tasks each and every day over time. These two hearts looked different from each other because they had lived different lives. I appreciated for the first time; just how dynamic our bodies really are. And I loved imagining how, not only do our bodies start out with unique differences from each other at birth, but they adapt and change to the life they live. I remember thinking “everyone needs to know this! I want to talk about this forever!” Though I had no idea at that time, or even any time in the next five years or so that that would mean I would become a teacher and an author, that moment was the seed of who I became and who I am now.
In memory of this seminal moment, I choose a heart as the cover image for my first book. One of the whys behind this tattoo is a nod to that long-ago spark of wonder as well as the book.
You can listen to me talk about that moment here: https://www.wbur.org/news/2020/01/27/lessons-learned-physiology-passion
Why #2: my own heart
I was sitting at my desk in the lab looking through the red-carpet photos from the Oscars the night before when suddenly my heart started pounding. Again. My wonky heart just did this from time to time. I planned to wait it out. I sat still with my eyes closed breathing slowly. My lab mate asked me if I was ok, and even though I reassured him that I was fine, he called a coworker Julie over to where I was sitting. I was 8 months pregnant, and my lab mate could see my chest heaving rapidly. We worked in a maternal-fetal medicine lab and Julie was an OBGYN. She took my pulse, helped me to get my gigantic, awkward body onto the floor, and took my pulse again. Then she made a phone call to the labor and delivery ward of the research hospital we worked in and asked them to prepare a bed and an EKG.
Once down on L&D, a technician applied the EKG leads as my friend and the resident doctor murmured to each other about what they thought was going on. The resident was betting on a pulmonary embolism, my friend was guessing a type of cardiac arrhythmia called supraventricular tachycardia (SVT). Once the initial read popped up on the EKG screen, it revealed a heart rate of 238 beats per minute. The resident’s eyes widened, “how is she still alive, let alone walking around?” she asked my friend (as if I wasn’t right there!) and my friend answered, “she’s a runner.” At this moment, I thanked my years of running for saving my life, and the life of my daughter inside me.
In that moment I learned something about strength and resiliency. I learned that we may have weaknesses or things may happen that you didn’t plan on. But the effort you put into your own strength every day can literally save you (and maybe someone else too!). My arrhythmia has been cured through ablation (a type of cardiac surgery) and it is ferociously healthy now. I will keep working toward stronger every day that I am able.