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A walk across Spain, a thank-you to those who shared your stories, and a farewell to readers
I recently walked across Spain, with a tiny bit of France thrown in.
It took a month of daily hikes, from St. Jean Pied de Port in France, to Santiago, in the northwest corner of Spain.
It sounds crazy unless you know about the Camino de Santiago, a 500-mile trail that people have been hiking for more than 1,000 years. The destination is the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, where, according to legend, the remains of St. James lie.
Every year, hundreds of thousands of people from across the globe hike or bike the trail. Some do it for the scenery through timeless Spanish hamlets, others for the outdoor and physical challenge, and many for the spiritual reasons that the first pilgrims, or peregrinos, set out to satisfy.
I also ran into dozens of people in transition in their lives, people who were ending a job, those who were retiring, college students trying to figure out a life plan. I heard many tales of starting over, transitioning, healing, and introspection on what is important in life.
In my case, it was a time to appreciate my past 30 years at The Virginian-Pilot, which I am wrapping up. This will be my final health notes column. (In the journalism business, this is called burying the lead, so forgive me.)
It's tough to sum up three decades of work here, and eight years at previous papers, so I'm going to write about the email messages I received while I was in Spain. They are a window on my work.
Two messages were about what has probably been my most well-read story, about a treatment that Eastern Virginia Medical School critical care doctor Paul Marik used to tackle sepsis, a blood infection. The doctor used an IV concoction of vitamin C, hydrocortisone, and thiamine.
Last year, the story garnered more clicks on our website than any other, a nod to readers' desire for health news about a disease that strikes more than a million people in this country every year.
The treatment is now being studied in clinical trials, and I've had a steady stream of email from people in hospital waiting rooms wanting more information for loved ones hanging on to life.
Another email was about a more low-key story I wrote in 2011 on dying in your sleep. Over the years, it has brought emails from people who struggled over the reasons why their parent or wife or friend died in their sleep, and whether it's a peaceful death.
They Google "dying in your sleep" or "peaceful death" and come across a story I wrote about my father, who died in his sleep in 2011 at the age of 88.
It sounds macabre, but it was actually quite interesting to interview people like former state medical examiner Leah Bush as to what people die of when that happens. Bush said it's often sudden cardiac arrest, and indeed, in the bodies she's autopsied, it does seem to be a peaceful way to go.
Here's the email I received when I returned from Spain: "Thank you for your article as it has eased my mind and given me so much peace.
She passed away two hours after my visit with her and she was alone in her room at the assisted living facility. She had been there five weeks due to her inability to walk or stand. The guilt has been unbearable but again your column has helped me more than all my research on this topic."
Of course, I've had "How's she doing?" queries about former TV anchor Jane Gardner, as she undergoes her fifth treatment regime against four types of cancer. She and her husband Gary recently returned from a trip to Europe, landing in Spain at the same time I was there. I don't know that I've met anyone more gracious or brave in sharing her story.
I'll end with an email about a story that dates to 1994 about 18-year-old Chris Burke, who was leaving the foster care system to strike out on his own.
The story was his perspective of growing up in foster care, going from one home to another – so many he'd lost count.
He agreed to the story, in part because of one written previously about some foster parents unhappy with the system who described him as "a little monster." Another couple predicted he'd burn down a foster home some day: "We went through hell with him,'' one of the foster parents said.
In the story I wrote, Burke described what he remembered about the times he was asked to leave.
"Lot of times, the social worker would pick me up from school and that's when they would tell me. They wouldn't flat-out say, 'They don't want you any more.' They'd beat around the bush. But I knew what they were trying to tell me."
Burke always wanted to prove those predictions foster parents had made were wrong, to show that foster kids who travel rocky roads don't have to turn out bad. Burke emailed me a few weeks ago, asking if I could find the two stories to send him.
He now lives in Florida, and I asked how things turned out.
He said he's had some rocky times, but he now works as an electrician and is engaged to be married.
"I can say for sure that I did not turn out to be a horrible person," he said in his email. "I am living life and not in jail or dead. I am a normal person just like everyone else with everyday issues. I am very grateful for everything that I have and I believe that some of the stuff that I had to go through in the past helped me with my adult life issues and learning how to deal with them."
My next gig will be in the public relations department at Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters, and I'm most excited about a new emphasis they will be putting on mental health.
That's an issue I've written about many times, often about people who have fallen through the cracks of the system.
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I'm hoping to help on another side of the equation now.
Before that, though, I want to thank all the people who opened their doors to me over the years.
I've sat at their kitchen tables, watched them being operated on, asked about some of the most intimate aspects of their lives, and they rarely said no.
It's been a privilege to tell their stories.
Thanks also to you the readers, and farewell.
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