How should I describe myself? In terms of occupation, training, social roles? What I like to do? What I believe in? The nature of identity is something I have been grappling with since I had my daughter Star in 2010 and the world as I knew it imploded. Am I the sum of my parts? Who am I? I love being a geek. I am a practising medical doctor (should I say this first up? or last? or not at all?) but the geek side of me (the love of ongoing learning, of tapping away on a laptop) has led me on a journey that included another degree, in Chinese medicine, then a Masters by Research, a PhD on acupuncture for menopause and now a thriving post-doctoral career that can only be desired as a “PhD on steroids”. I am a mum to a gorgeous little girl, a beautiful boy and wife to a wonderful husband. I love to read. Travel makes me happy. Running keeps me sane. I enjoy cooking because it puts me in touch with nature – raw ingredients – in an otherwise urban jungle. I love walking in the park on a sunny day, the sound of crashing waves, the peacefulness of lying still at the end of the day. I am passionate about health, fitness and happiness. I constantly grapple with balancing “work”, “life” and being a mother and I am walking with all my patients on this journey to continually navigate the ups and downs of life. Being a mother has taught me humility, compassion, and gratitude. I imagine this view of myself will shift and change over the years so watch this space.
x
Dr Carolyn Ee
PS. I love to hear from my readers. Feel free to post comments, or write to me at drcarolynee@gmail.com. You can also follow me on Facebook or Twitter. I don’t provide medical advice over email, but I might be able to point you in the right direction. And a friendly letter makes my day :)
I love your letters from a SAHM and a working mum. I write a newsletter for our local NCT branch and wondered if I could use them in ‘publication’ – there are only 68 of us, but still! I won’t simply copy and paste if you say no, but I shared on our group wall and already 3 mums have said how much they have helped and are relieved that they are not actually alone with these feelings. It would be great if we could and I look forward to hearing from you. Gemma
Hey Gemma! I’ve sent you an email. Would be very honoured if you reposted!
Hi Gemma – loved your SAHM mom and working mom letters, and would love to post them on The Huffington Post Canada as a blog. Please get in touch so we can hopefully set this up!
Sincerely,
Rebecca Zamon
Oh how I wish I were in Australia to apply for the acupuncture for menopause trial. I am 62 and have been suffering from intolerable hot flashes for over 9 years now with no sign of letting up. I cannot try Hormone Replacement Therapy because my mother had breast cancer.
Do you know of anyone in the New York state or surrounding areas,….Boston, Philadelphia, etc…..who might be doing something similar to your research? I would drive the distance just to see if this would help. I’m not implying your work in Australia certainly doesn’t keep you very busy, and that you should know what is being worked on half way around the globe, but sometimes doctors do know what is going on in other parts of the world if it particularly relates to what they themselves are doing.
I appreciated your blog about mothers. Over the years I had the privilege to be both, working and stay-at-home. The key to me is that I just had the honour of being a mother, the most precious part of my entire life and at no point did I ever think of it as a ‘job’ nor did I think of being a wife as a job. I was sorry that some people needed to make the blog about themselves rather than about what you ere writing about….there will always be some of those.
Thank you for your kind thoughts and encouragement to those who raise children whether male or female, employed outside the home or not.
Alisa Thomas
Hello Alisa
Thank you for your very kind comments. As for the acupuncture trial, unfortunately there don’t seem to be any open near you at the moment. (one has just finished recruiting in the USA!) But you can keep an eye on any other trials at http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/results?term=acupuncture+hot+flashes&Search=Search Good luck!
Hi Carolyn,
I loved your letters blog. Really useful, beautiful and brilliant. I wonder if you would like to write something to go with your letters for our new website (the-daily-juggle.com). We are just getting started as a self help hub for working parents and I am passionate about supporting every different sort of Mum. My current blog is on this subject. Very best wishes,
Julie MacDonald
Hi Julie
I’d love to! I’ll drop you an email tomorrow. Have been awake since 5:30 and it’s now 9:30pm! Cheers Carolyn
Hi Caroline, we will love to reblog your post: “A Letter from a Working Mother to a Stay-At-Home Mother, and vice versa” translated to spanish, it will be a great inspiration for our readers (WM, SAHM, WAHM, Mompreneurs). Thanks for sharing this words, exactly what we try to communicate in our blog.
I’m so glad to have stumbled upon your blog. I’m a “retired” family physician, at home and homeschooling my 4 kiddos. Also a runner (half marathon in 3 weeks), avid amateur chef and love to travel.
Thoroughly enjoyed the SAHM/WAHM letters. Respectful on both sides. Bookmarking. :-)
Thanks Carolyn for posting. I love your blog. I am a facilitator of a new mothers group and an admin of a new mothers FB group. This is a topic that comes up pretty often in our meetings and online. Your blog summarizes it so eloquently. My I share it online?
Thanks again
Orly
Hi Carolyn just read your fantastic post about SAHM and Working Mum. We would love to reproduce it on our site will full credit and links to you blog and social media. Look forward to hearing from you Jill
Hi Carolyn, we love your letters blog very much!!! we are a group of SAHMs and thinking if there is any chance we can reblog your post: “A Letter from a Working Mother to a Stay-At-Home Mother, and vice versa” translated to Chinese, to share it with hundreds of thousands WM, SAHM and WAHM in China.
Thank you again~~~and looking forward to hearing from you!
K
Hi Carolyn!
I work for an online magazine for moms called Daily Mom, and we have all fallen in love with your post, “A Letter from a Working Mother to a Stay-At-Home Mother, and vice versa.” We would LOVE to republish that post on our website (www.dailymom.com) with a spotlight on you and your blog. Please let me know if that’s something you would be interested in – we would just love to feature you! Many thanks in advance!
-Heather
Hi Carolyn! Like many others before me, I would also like to feature your Letter From a Working Mom to a Stay-at-Home Mom and Vice Versa. It’s pretty spectacular. I am the editor of a brand new site for moms (ForEveryMom.com) launching in September and we want to be inclusive of ALL moms and I think this piece really speaks to our mission. Please shoot me an email and let me know if that would be okay with you. Thanks so much!