Writer and moviemaker Nora Ephron kept her illness very secret and so her death last year shocked almost everyone. Today in the New York Times, Ephron's son, Jacob Bernstein (his father is famous Watergate reporter Carl Bernstein) wrote a beautiful piece about his mother's illness…
When it comes to health issues, the media reports contradictory “evidence” almost weekly. Once again, we hear that what we thought would protect us, may not actually do anything good at all. What is a person to do? My doctor says, “Be sensible. We may…
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a report today on another drug-resistent bacteria that is spreading in hospitals and kills half the people who get a bloodstream infection from it. Drug-resistant germs called carbapenem-reistant Enterobacteriaceae, or CRE, are on the rise and have…
They are arriving in Rome and ready to vote – behind closed doors. With scandal as part of the drama, cardinals begin the process of discerning who they believe the Holy Spirit wants as the next leader of the world’s Catholics. But the world’s Catholics…
Some students take to traditional learning as easily as a fish to water – others feel like they are drowning in that water. So, how do we make learning – learning? You can make a difference. A friend who serves on the local school board…
Can't sleep? Maybe you should look way back in your past to its possible origins. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports this week that "the origins of insufficient sleep can, in certain cases, begin early in life and pose lasting consequences. A retrospective…
My husband and I have never been on a cruise nor have we been tempted to try one. After seeing the photos and hearing the stories by passengers aboard the stranded Carnival Cruise in the Gulf of Mexico, we felt even more sure we'd never…
Frank Cannata died last week at 88. He was a kind, gentle Spokane man I got to know well in the 1980s and 1990s because he was the manager of the Town and Country Restaurant, our family hangout. It is said that the first person…
Many of us in the Boomer generation took the traditional route through education: graduate from high school and then off to college: maybe a two-year degree, maybe a four-year degree. But with education costs skyrocketing and the rest of life not always offering an easy…
As humorist Garrison Keillor says, “It is a shame to miss one’s own funeral...all those nice comments…and to come so close...to miss it by just a few days!” One man missed his funeral by minutes. A lovely story of husband and wife ~ united forever.…
Sunday the Oscars will be given (seems a bit passé to call them the “Academy Awards” – easier to tweet the “O” word). If you haven’t been to the theatre to see all the nominees on the BIG screen, sit back and view clips of...
Everyone in my family, in my workspace and my friends are watching: Downton Abbey. I finally caved and watched season one AND season two in the last ten days. It is a nice break from my husband’s favorite channel, the History Channel (I call it…
For ABC’s Good Morning, America viewers, today is a big deal…Robin Roberts, co-anchor of the show, has returned. Roberts was diagnosed with a rare blood disease last fall and needed a bone marrow transplant. She lost weight, lost her hair, but never lost her determination…
Now that Pope Benedict XVI is leaving St. Peter’s center stage, so many “authorities” on papal topics are writing and writing and talking and talking, to say nothing about the papal hopefuls adjusting their beanies and walking a bit more confidently. Fun to watch. In…
In a country challenged with lack of adequate mental health care, a country singer has taken her own life. Mindy McCready, country singer and mother of two, died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. She was 37. We do not know the demons and sadness…
President Obama’s State of the Union speech addressed the topics on our minds and hearts. Op-ed columnist, Charles M. Blow, believes we heard the “real” President Obama on Tuesday night: the one who does not have to worry about re-election; the man we elected to…
An old family friend, Jan Rotondo, died recently. Her funeral is Friday. She and her husband, Frank, ran the Town and Country Restaurant, a popular place in Spokane for decades. Two years ago, when Frank died, I asked Jan for the recipe for the Town…
Last year for Lent, I tried to give up worrying. It was only slightly successful. I'm going to try again this year. I believe at the end of my life, I will regret being anxious about things that turned out not to matter, things I…
The process to elect a pope is different from any other election process in the world. Here is one piece of the process: "The conclave to elect the successor of Benedict XVI will be regulated by the 'Ordo Rituum Conclavis' established by John Paul II's…
Pope Benedict XVI announced he will resign on February 28 due to his failing health. He is the first pope in 600 years to do so. A new pope will be elected in March and be in place by Easter (March 31). The process of…
Each week we begin our work by assessing tasks, catching up on what we may have missed since we left our workplace and anticipating all that must be done. The best way to accomplish those goals? Relax! Really. Science says so. (S-R archives photo)
An Annals of Internal Medicine report showed a strong link between exercise and a lower risk of dementia. From the Medline Plus press release: Who was studied? 19,458 healthy middle-aged people who had a treadmill exercise test as part of a preventive health clinic visit.…
On Dec. 13, I began a thousand-day project to give or throw away 10 items from our house each day. I am proud to say I have stuck with the plan, nearly two months into it. This week, I focused on our CD collection, because…
Women were once mocked and dismissed as they moved through mid-life. No more. Health care knows that these physical and emotional transitions can be addressed and women can find relief, knowledge and support as they move through the aging process. Read what one innovative community…
Today to her chemotherapy session, my friend Chris wore a hat for the first time over her hair-less head. She has worn the shorn look with pride and even practicality. Her head gets very warm, she discovered, and so going hatless and wigless is actually…
Spokesman-Review features writer Rebecca Nappi, along with writer Catherine Johnston of Olympia, Wash., discuss here issues facing aging boomers, seniors and those experiencing serious illness, dying, death and other forms of loss.