Portable Devotion, “Socialization”, and How to Eat Well On Call.

Posted on December 3, 2025 by marylbrandt

Portable devotion

What a fascinating journey this morning as I travelled 1500 years back in time (via the internet) to this medieval portable altar.

On my first roll of the digital dice on this website that randomly links to other websites, I arrived at a database of portable medieval altars, created by a historian whose research interest is “portable devotion”. Lots to think about here…

“Socializing” an idea

I suspect the word has been around for a while, but I learned that “socializing” has become part of “business speak” in medical centers and hospitals, as in… “Go socialize that idea with them first.”

It turns out this new vocabulary is just a new way of describing what great leaders have known all along…you don’t know what you don’t know.

“Socializing” a new idea starts with determining who might want to “veto” your new idea and then meeting with them, not to persuade them, but to learn from them. With each meeting you learn more which lets you refine the project and, at the same time, allows your organization to evolve with you.

The best thing I learned is that the concept now referred to as “socializing” came from the Japanese concept of Nemawashi (根回し)… “Nemawashi literally translates as “turning the roots”, from ne (根, “root”) and mawasu (回す, “to turn something, to put something around something else”). Its original meaning was literal: in preparation for transplanting a tree, one would carefully dig around a tree some time before transplanting, and trim the roots to encourage the growth of smaller roots that will help the tree become established in its new location.” (Wikipedia)

#CallFood

There are lots of people who spend nights in the hospital to care for others… physicians, nurses, techs, and many others.

Especially for trainees who work long hours, eating well when you are on call is not easy. There are usually few (if any) options available in the hospital, and when you are exhausted it’s hard to prepare and bring your own food.

But eating well is really important …. not just nutritionally, but emotionally as well. Here’s a link to the system I’ve found works the best, but deciding that Diet Coke, graham crackers, and cereal are not major food groups is the critical first step.

Link to “Things I Wish I’d Known From the Beginning: How to Hack Eating Well”

p.s. I post recipes that meet the “pizza rule” (less time to cook than it takes to order a pizza) on Bluesky, Facebook, and Instagram with the hashtag #CallFood.

p.p.s Here’s the recipe for my breakfast tacos (which are also the best 2am #CallFood you will ever have).

Feeding the Hungry, Paper Clips, and Enchantment

Posted on October 30, 2025 by marylbrandt

#LoveYourNeighbor. People need to eat… and those of us who have enough can (and should) share what we can.

Support your local food bank to feed your literal neighbors (money is always the best way to help a food bank).

Donate to World Food Kitchen to help in Jamaica and Cuba in the wake of Hurricane Mellisa.

Make bags to keep in your car to give to your neighbors on the street.

Do what you can…

A dining table filled with several open boxes containing various food items and snacks, with two cats exploring the setup.

Science can be beautiful! I am absolutely not an “RNA-Seq nerd”, but I understand why an experimental result like this is delightful! This is beautiful basic science to understand a cool question … with millions of different smells how do we know the difference between a rose and petrichor?

A scientific graph displaying transcriptional data and olfactory receptor gene expression patterns in ants, highlighting both sense and antisense transcription.

I’m enchanted by these paintings…

And then, while looking through the artist’s website, I discovered this painting which was commissioned by the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland…

A large group of people dressed in lab coats gathered around a shirtless man lying on a table, set in a spacious, well-lit room with high ceilings, engaged in a scientific discussion.

Paper clip on your lapel? The history of wearing a paper clip started in Norway in World War II… a history that is fascinating and worth knowing.

A close-up image of several paper clips arranged in a way that highlights their copper color and shape.

Oh… these poems that carry us….

A poem titled 'The Prayer' by Mary Oliver, featuring handwritten text on a light background, focusing on attention to simple beauty and gratitude.

So easy, sort of healthy, and delicious. I went searching last week for a dessert recipe that was sort of healthy, wasn’t too sweet, and would be a perfect bite after dinner.

Mission accomplished: Pan de elote! (Mexican Corn Cake)

A piece of cornbread on a white plate with a fork, showcasing its texture and golden color.

p.s. I used a can of corn (instead of fresh) and substituted 2% milk for half of the condensed milk which was a perfect level of sweetness for my taste.

My “Top 10” from Theology Beer Camp 2025

Posted on October 20, 2025 by marylbrandt

It is mind blowing and soul nourishing to listen to talented orators and scholars about the “whys” and “hows” of current challenges in our individual and communal lives…especially when surrounded by joy and laughter.

“Have you ever noticed that the happiest people on television are on medication? … but the side effects are hell!” Jean Dominic Crossan (Hmmm… and did you know that there are only two countries in the world that allow direct to consumer marketing of prescription drugs?)

“Heaven and hell are not locations in the future, they are options in the present.” Jean Dominic Crossan

“The battle is not how we worship but what we worship at the altars of our daily lives. That which is central to us is sacred to us.” Stacey Floyd-Thomas

“We were chanting, dancing, and trancing before we could speak… Religion started before belief.” Tripp Fuller

“The United Daughters of the Confederacy sought to create “living monuments” through what children were taught” (This is a history I sort of knew, but not really). We are repeating this today in the current policies of school boards and the Dept of Education to erase our history because it makes white kids “uncomfortable”…“A little discomfort is required to improve. An education that never discomforts never transforms.” …“Control of the narrative is more powerful than bombs.” Kelly Brown Douglas

“What books have torn you wide open?” Kelly Brown Douglas (What an amazing question and truth – the education that sets you free is not just what you learn from teachers in classrooms but also from books… supporting my deep belief that librarians will save our civilization)

West Coast IPA may be my favorite type of beer, and the one that was specially brewed for this event was among the best I’ve ever had.

“Paul intended and wrote to speak to the ages, not just the time he lived in. In thinking about his words, his instructions, his understandings we can and should judge Paul against where we find ourselves today. This means that originalism, or fundamentalism is the wrong approach to the writings of Paul.” Jean Dominic Crossan

Spiritual/faith journeys must be done in community (church) so each of us can do “the work our soul must have” (Church). (the quote is from Katie Geneva Cannon, shared by Stacey Floyd-Thomas)

Photo from Brian Jones

Here’s the website for Theology Beer Camp 2025, so you can see the full list of speakers, topics, and events. Many of the speakers have wonderful podcasts, too!

The Tools We Hold: The Senn Retractor

Posted on May 12, 2018 by marylbrandt

The Senn retractor is a small, relatively delicate retractor that is used extensively in hand surgery, vascular surgery, plastic surgery and other procedures involving the skin and soft tissue. I hold this instrument most days I am in the OR and yesterday found myself wondering about this beautiful tool.

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Nicholas Senn was an early adopter of Listerism and performed his operations under a fog of carbolic acid spray. He felt that smooth surfaces on surgical instruments were important to help prevent infection.¹ That, plus the need for retraction in superficial wounds undoubtedly led to developing the Senn retractor.

Surgery being performed under carbolic acid spray

Nicolas Senn was born in 1844 and emigrated to the Fond du Lac, Wisconsin from St. Gaul, Switzerland in 1852. He graduated from Chicago Medical School in 1868, completed his residency at Cook County, started his academic career at the Medical College of Wisconsin, studied in Europe at the University of Munich and then returned as Professor at the University of Illinois. He served as president of the American Surgical Association in 1892, and was named president of the AMA in 1987², Dr.Senn was a military surgeon who served in the Spanish-American war and the Russo-Japanese war. Importantly, he founded the Association of Military Surgeons.^2,3 He died in 1908 at the age of 64, five years before the American College of Surgeons was founded. There is little doubt that he would have been a founding member of the American College of Surgeons as he was the first Editor-In-Chief of SGO, which later became the Journal of the American College of Surgeons.⁴

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In addition to his truly extraordinary resume, there are other facts and stories about Dr. Senn worth knowing. So, the next time you find yourself handing a student, resident, or assistant a Senn retractor you might want to share some of this history.

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Dr. Seen taught elementary school for a year and then studied with a local GP in Fond du Lac before entering medical school. ¹
There is a high school in Chicago named for him. He was known as an outstanding educator, so this is a particularly appropriate tribute.
He was a collector of historical medical documents which resulted in a collection of over 10,000 volumes and 14,000 pamphlets and articles now stored in the John Crerar Library.²
One of his most famous quotes is “The fate of the wounded rests with the one who applies the first dressing”²
In 1904 he wrote a beautiful tribute to Father Damien who lived in the leper colony of Molokai which can be read here.
He strongly supported early operation for appendicitis, which was not the practice of the time. “The principal object in writing this paper is to call the attention of the profession to the necessity of treating the primary disease of the appendix by radical measures before the advent of incurable complications, that is, before disease due to perforation has occurred.”⁵
He was probably best known for his studies on intestinal perforation. To set the stage, Dr. Senn was a military surgeon in an era of transition. This was literally the time that it was finally “proved” that suturing a bowel perforation resulted in a better outcome. Senn used an animal model to instill hydrogen via the anus to see what kinds of pressure would result in bowel perforation.⁶ (The full text of Dr. Picher’s article, published in 1888, can be found here and is a fascinating read). He went beyond animal studies to show that this could be applied to humans by doing the same experiment on himself (short of the perforation we assume!). “Senn used a rubber balloon connected to a rubber tube inserted in his anus to pump 4 US gallons (15 L) of hydrogen gas into his intestinal tract. An assistant sealed the tube by squeezing the anus against it. The hydrogen was inserted by squeezing the balloon while monitoring the pressure on a manometer.” ² This technique was subsequently used in soldiers who had been shot to determine if bullets had punctured the bowel.⁷
Many of his experiments were carried out in the Nicholas Senn Building. He had this building serve as a place where students and medical professionals would gather to learn from one another. In the basement of the building he experimented with medical procedures that he would later carry out on patients.”⁸

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El-Sedfy A, Chamberlain RS. Surgeons and their tools: a history of surgical instruments and their innovators. Part III: the medical student’s best friend-retractors. Am Surg 2015;81:16-8.
Nicholas Senn. Wikipedia. (Accessed May 5, 2018, at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_Senn.)
Smith DC. Nicholas Senn and the origins of the Association of Military Surgeons of the United States. Mil Med 1999;164:243-6.
. (Accessed May 5, 2018, at https://www.facs.org/about acs/archives/pasthighlights/sennclubdinner.)
Senn N. A plea in favor of early laparotomy for catarrhal and ulcerative appendicitis, with the report of two cases. JAMA 1889;13:630-6.
Pilcher JE. Senn on the Diagnosis of Gastro-Intestinal Perforation by the Rectal Insufflation of Hydrogen Gas. Ann Surg 1888;8:190-204.
Senn N. The Modern Treatment of Gunshot Wounds in Miliatary Practice. JAMA 1898;31.
Nicholas Senn Building. 2009. at http://genealogytrails.com/wis/milwaukee/nicholassennbuilding.html.)

The Tools We Hold: The Allis Clamp

Posted on October 24, 2016 by marylbrandt

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Today I used an Allis clamp in the operating room. Like so many surgical instruments, it is a thing of beauty. It’s a balanced, well engineered tool designed to hold without crushing. And it has been used by surgeons all over the world since it was first first created.… in 1883.

Women’s fashion in 1883

Imagine if you will the operating room of 1883… it’s still the beginning of modern anesthesiology and the concept of antisepsis in surgery had been published by Lister less than 20 years before.

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Surgeons in 1883 performed operations which were gory and painful. Patients routinely died, if not from the actual procedure then from the infections afterwards. Operating on the bowel in the 1880s was particularly dangerous with a mortality rate of 30-40%.

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But despite the mortality (not to mention the morbidity and outright suffering), bowel obstructed by cancer or necrotic from strangulated hernias still needed to be resected. Faced with these outcomes and this suffering, surgeons in 1883, like we do now, studied, discussed, performed experiments and tried new techniques to improve the treatments they offered their patients. ( For a great review on the history of bowel anastomosis, click here.)

One of those surgeons was Oscar Huntington Allis.

Dr. Allis was born in 1836 in Holley, New York. He attended Jefferson Medical College and did an internship at the Philadelphia General Hospital. Like many surgeons of the era, he spent several years studying in Europe. Upon his return, he worked as a general surgeon at Presbyterian Hospital in Philadelphia. Dr. Allis died of a cerebral hemorrhage in 1921.

Here is Dr. Allis’ account of developing and using the Allis clamp (referred to as “toothed forceps”), which was delivered to the College of Physicians of Philadelphia in 1901. As you read this, remember that he was using a straight needle, much like a tailor would use.

My operation was performed in the following manner: If the reader will divest himself of his coat and place the cuffs parallel, he can look down into the sleeve ends as into a double-barrelled gun. The inner surfaces of the sleeves correspond to the mucous surfaces, and the outer surfaces to the serous surfaces of the gut ends. Now, if the reader will sew the two proximal edges of the coat sleeves together, by a suture that passes entirely through them, he will find that he can readily sew fully half their circumference together. If now he will turn in the remaining borders, he will find that he can readily complete the circuit by sewing the outer surfaces. It was precisely in this way that I finally successfully approximated the intestines in Case 2. The fact that the mucous membrane could be safely included in a suture emboldened me to repeat the operation; and finding by experience that my fingers could not always accomplish my purpose, I have added to my case two instruments that I have found very convenient not only as special aids in anastomoses, but also in general surgical work.

The first may be called tenaculum forceps (Fig. 1, a). I use them very much as women use pins and basting thread to secure their work temporarily while they are sewing it more securely. It does not matter what stitch is used–the whip stitch, through-and-through stitch, or over-and-over. All that is essential is that the approximated bowels should be securely united. Having firmly approximated one half the circumference, I remove the forceps, and, turning the partly united structures half round, I seize the seam with my tenaculum forceps, and with a pair basting the work a little further on (Fig. 3), the through-and-through suturing can be continued almost entirely around the entire circumference.

When near the end of the approximation I have found toothed forceps (Fig. 1, b), with serrations on the edge, convenient for turning in the mucous edges, adjusting the serous, and holding them approximated until sutured (Fig. 4)