The Truth About the Surrender of My Foster Child

Excerpt: My best efforts at parenting weren’t enough to make him stay. My son no longer wanted to call me “Mom.

Taking Care

Excerpt: It’s July 26, 2010, late. I’ve sunk onto the edge of the bed in my childhood home. The bedroom reminds me of one of those cozy, pretty Valentine’s Day shoeboxes I made back in elementary school: small, pink, white, flowery

Big Mama and the Uncertain Leap

Excerpt:I live in a place that evokes fear, a place deformed by layers and layers of pulse-racing images, of intoxicating whiskey-dark stories

Mechanics of Burrowing in Muddy Sediments

Marine muds are elastic solids through which animals move by propagating a crack-shaped burrow. Dilations previously considered anchors serve to exert dorsoventral compressive stresses on the burrow walls that, through elastic behavior of the medium, focus strongly at the tip of the burrow. This focused stress breaks adhesive or cohesive bonds, propagating a crack for the animal to follow. The force exerted by the polychaete, Nereis virens, to propagate a crack has been measured in gelatin, an analogue of muddy sediment, through photoelastic stress analysis. Finite element analysis was used to convert measured forces to those exerted in natural sediments based on differences in stiffnesses between gelatin and mud. From linear elastic fracture mechanics theory, it is predicted that a crack propagates when the stress intensity factor, a measure of stress amplification at the crack tip, exceeds a critical value, the fracture toughness. Stress intensity factors, calculated from measured forces using finite element modeling, fall within the range of critical values measured in gelatin and exceed those in natural sediments. Stress intensity factors were also calculated from the shapes of worms burrowing in transparent gels with varied mechanical properties, and fell close to or exceeded respective critical values. These results, using two independent measurements, strongly support that the mechanism underlying burrowing is crack propagation. Behavioral differences were observed by worms burrowing in gels with different mechanical properties, and can be explained by the differences in mechanics. This mechanism of burrowing by fracture is consistent with descriptions of burrowing across phyla and helps explain long-puzzling anatomies and behaviors of burrowing animals. Understanding of this mechanism raises questions about the reputed high energetic cost of burrowing, feeding guild classifications—specifically surface deposit feeders, and identifies some potential artifacts in benthic studies of chemistry and bioturbation. Both behaviors of burrowers and responses of sediments to forces exerted by burrowers depend on the mechanical properties (stiffness and fracture toughness), and understanding of that relationship will lead to advances in automaton modeling of bioturbation. Any serious mechanical analysis of swimming involves relevant physical properties of the medium. Going forward, the same will now be true of burrowing

Omnibus Survivorship Narratives: Multiple Morbidities Among Female Cancer Survivors in South Central Appalachia

This study examines the illness narratives of female cancer survivors living in Southern Central Appalachia. Stories of 29 female Appalachian cancer survivors from northeastern Tennessee and southwcstmn Virginia were collected via a mixed methods approach in either a day-long story circle (n=26) or an in-depth interview (n=3), Qualitative content analysis was used to guide an inductive analysis of the tTanscript\u3c;, What emerged was that as participants survived cancer, they also survived other health conditions, their intorsccting stories yielding an omnibus survivorship narrative

Barriers to Family Cancer Communication in Southern Appalachia

This study examines cultural issues surrounding family cancer communication in Appalachia, providing insight into participants’ communication choices regarding their illness within their families. Stories of 29 female Appalachian cancer survivors from Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia were collected via a mixed methods approach in either a day-long story circle (N=26) or an in-depth interview (N=3). Qualitative content analysis was used to identify unique barriers to family cancer communication in Appalachia. Two barriers emerged: 1) the health of other family members and 2) cancer in a “taboo” area. These findings suggest that Appalachian female cancer survivors struggle with similar issues as survivors outside of the region regarding family cancer communication. However, there appear to be additional barriers to family cancer communication for Appalachian women that may be a result of cultural norms of the region

Personal Identity Changes of Female Cancer Survivors in Southern Appalachia

Navigating personal identity changes through the cancer journey can be challenging, especially for women in a culture that places emphasis on traditional gender roles and values close-knit families. Drawing on a story circule approach, this study examined the intersecting identities of female cancer survivors in southern Appalachia. Stories of 29 female Appalachian cancer survivors from Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia were collected via a mixed methods approach in either a day-long story circule (N-26) or an in-depth interview (N=3). Transcripts from both phases were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim; NVivo 8.0 facilitated qualitative content analysis of the data. Inductive analysis revealed that women in this study appeared in struggle with (1) maintaining place in the family, (2) mothering, and (3) navigating physical changes. Ideas of family versus self appeared to overlap and intertwine with how women in Appalachia navigate personal identify changes through the cancer journey

Navigating Family Cancer Communication: Communication Strategies of Female Cancer Survivors in Central Appalachia

In a multiphasic study, the stories of 29 female Appalachian cancer survivors were collected through either a day-long modified story circle event (n=26) or an in-depth interview (n=3). Qualitative content analysis was used to identify emergent themes in the data. The analysis revealed 5 types of family cancer communication including both pre-diagnosis and postdiagnosis cancer communication strategie

Local Implementation of Cancer Control Activities in Rural Appalachia, 2006

Underserved communities with high cancer rates often are not involved in implementing state cancer control activities locally. An East Tennessee State University research team formed 2 Appalachian Community Cancer Research Review Work Groups, 1 in northeast Tennessee and 1 in southwest Virginia. During 4 sessions, the research team presented regional cancer data to the work groups. Work group participants explored research from a lay perspective and identified possible reasons for cancer disparities in central Appalachia. The fifth session was a community dissemination activity in which work group participants engaged in cancer education and action by presenting the research to their local communities in unique ways. During a sixth session, both work groups discussed these interventions and further attempted to answer the question, "What makes the experience of cancer unique in Appalachia?" This article describes the key steps of this community-based participatory research process

Culturally Tailored Cancer Communication, Education, and Research: The Highways and Back Roads of Appalachia

We have varying experiences with Appalachia, yet we all agree that there is a unique relationship between Appalachians and cancer. Two of us are nurses who have worked with various communities. Two of us grew up here; 1 watched several of her relatives battle cancer in their Appalachian homes. All of us are scholars who want to talk with practitioners and researchers who are developing culturally tailored cancer control interventions. This goal to have a dialogue emerged after we had a series of discussions about cancer in Appalachia, discussions resulting in our developing a list of cultural traits that seem to be related to this region’s high cancer morbidity and morality (Table). For example, in one of our previous publications we describe the association between the traditional Appalachian oral culture and the cancer experience, finding that cancer stories appeared to pass from 1 generation to the next (1). In turn, these stories seem to affect some community members\u27 willingness to be screened. Our essay\u27s purpose is not to justify the elements presented in the Table. Rather, we write to consider the following: What are the advantages and disadvantages of making generalizations about a culture that has already been marginalized by overgeneralizations