Hi. I’m Libby.
I am a Physician Assistant in Infectious Diseases who has been practicing for almost 25 years. I wear a lot of hats. I am a mom to three boys, two dogs and one tailless rescue cat. I am a Masters Swimmer and founder of the Pittsburgh Flying Fish Heads Masters swim team. And I fight bugs five days a week.
In my work, the infectious disease team is often affectiately referred to as the bug (fungi, bacteria, viruses, parasites) people. Hence, this blog: Bugs in Life. In my writing I explore bugs of all types: micro, macro, & metaphorical.
Over 25 years in the field of infectious disease, I am confident in this: very few people plan for an infection. Even when the surgery was planned, its infectious complication wasn’t. Even when the IV heroin was chosen, the staph infection in the bloodstream wasn’t. Malaria, Lyme, Tuberculosis, Neutropenic fevers, total joint infections, Covid. No one plans for these infections.
My career has been part conflict management, part counseling. I spend my days talking with patients about their biggest fears and worries and navigating worse & best case scenarios. And so many times sepsis and infectious complications in life become an end of life event. Sometimes this happens at the end of a well-lived long life but for others it means a life that ends far too prematurely.
People who work in the field of infectious disease often have a role as death sherpas. But my work also becomes a metaphor for the non-infectious bugs that occur in life. Writing is a therapeutic way to share how these worlds overlap and what I have learned in these spaces.
My words are never to be taken as medical advice – so please take your questions to your physician, your primary care or pediatric (or geriatric) team.
