Everything All At Once

By Rich Dubin, Publisher

The past 8 months have been a whirlwind on so many levels that I’ve been forced to take a step back and evaluate a lot about my life and my work.

Yes, things change, and we have to adapt to those changes. But who knew there would be so many, and they would come so fast and pull in so many directions? I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s experienced this whiplash, given everything that’s happened in the last 3 years.

On the personal front, I am an only child. I lost my my dad when I was 9 and my relationship with my Mom has been somewhat strained for more than time than I care to admit. Last March, I lost my Uncle, my Mom’s only brother. He had been like a father to me and a bastion of support for my Mom. Since there are no spouses or significant others, it was all on me. But I wanted to show up, so I flew from my home in Albany down to Florida to be there for my Mom. 

Mom had been dependent on my Uncle, so she took his loss hard, but I thought she would be OK. My next visit, in late May, was supposed to be for a lung biopsy after they found a spot on her annual checkup Xray.  But, the day before the procedure, I found her on the floor. She had fallen and broken her shoulder and pelvis. We spent a week in the hospital and then she was in rehab for 36 days. My next trip was to take her out of rehab and home. This went as slow as molasses. Although the facility was highly recommended, the care she received was sub-par and she came home with multiple bed sores and needed in-home nursing which didn’t come for a week. I am the father of 4 kids, so family stress is not new…but this was next level. 

The biopsy results confirmed that she had lung cancer. So my next trip down was to take her to the hospital for minimally invasive lung cancer surgery, which was supposed to be a short stay…turned out to be over a week. The good news is they successfully removed all the cancer. The road to recovery has been a long one and my Mom has shown incredible resiliency over the past 8 months. We’ve gotten to know each other on a deeper level, and we were able to laugh through some pretty dark moments and came out in a better place. 

Meanwhile, work—building lerEXPO and lerMarketplace—was going gang-busters with new events being added each month. While this was a good thing, it also meant more of my time training speakers and working on proposals and brainstorming with new partners. All exciting stuff, but it was being crammed in between unexpected trips to Florida and AirBnB stays where wi-fi was sketchy and finding electrical outlets was often a game of hide and seek. 

And then I found a stray kitten on the street by my new favorite coffee shop in Florida and brought him home to AirBnB #3. Now I had vet visits and cat food to think about too. But also companionship in my netherworld.

Adopting the cat got me to thinking about showing up for other people and about how I was only able to show up for my Mom because so, so many people had shown up for me. And the same was true for work. Never had I counted on all those people who support me everyday so much. Family, friends, business colleagues—all those people who encourage me everyday to bring my best game to whatever I’m doing—all those people who help fill my tank when it’s running low…and the important lesson in all this is this: I had to let them. I had to ask for the support I needed because I couldn’t have supported my Mom without their help. And the same with the business: I had to rely on my staff to keep things moving and I had to rely on event sponsors and speakers to keep to their schedules so I could manage mine and be where I needed to be. Sounds simple, and it is, but it is all dependent on a willingness to be part of something greater, to help others chase their dreams while you pursue yours. 

That old adage is true: No one knows what anyone else is going through at any given time, so it is super important to be loving, supportive, and understanding. Life happens to all of us. It’s not what happens to us that matters. What matters is how we respond. 

So to all those who have encouraged me and prodded me along the way, I see you, and appreciate you. And we—the staff at Lower Extremity Review, also want to thank our numerous advertisers and sponsors, our distinguished Editorial Advisory Board members, and all the authors, reviewers, and speakers who have provided their expertise in one way or another this past year (see list). 

2022 has been a whirlwind, but to 2023 I say, Bring It On! 

• Ron Michael Adduru, BSN
• Ntwali Adrien
• Teresa Alpert, CO, CPed
• Ziya “Z” Altug, PT, DPT, MS, OCS
• Matthew Arciuolo, CPed, BOC
• Shahram Attarian
• Barbara Aung DPM DABPM FAPWHc CWS
• Winfried Banzer
• Bob Bartlett, MD
• Simon Bartold
• Christian J Barton
• Richard Blake, DPM, MS
• Barry Block, DPM, JD
• Yves Boirie
• Armand Bonnin
• Scott Borjeson
• Thomas H. Brannagan
• Cedric X. Bryant, PhD, FASCM
• Sicco A. Bus
• Aidan J. Buffey
• Annie A. Butler
• Brian P. Carson
• Susan Chalela, MPT
• Alison H. Chang
• Windy Cole, DPM, CWSP
• Nancy Collins, PhD, RDN, LD, NWCC, FAND
• Matthew Cotchett
• Emmanuel Coudeyre
• Marianna Crane, retired
• Ronaldo H. Cruvinel-Júnior
• Daniel Davis, DPM
• Paul DeVita, PhD
• Jamie Dick, PT
• Bryan Dickler, CPed/LPed
• Alan E. Donnelly
• Martine Duclos
• Suzie Ehmann DPT, PhD(c), CWS, CLWT, CLT
• Tobias Engeroff
• Adrian Faccioni, MS
• Wade Farrow, MD
• Roxanne Fernandez
• Jane S. S. P. Ferreira
• Sue Fetzner, BS MS LPed/CPed
• Georgia Fisher
• Mathias B. Forrester, BS
• Eszter Füzeki
• Simon C. Gandevia
• Taru Garthwaite
• Chloé Gay
• Laurent Gerbaud
• Matt Gooch, MS, CPed
• Peter Gorman, MD
• Ian B Griffiths
• Candy Guiguet Auclair
• Halime Gulle
• Joe Hart
• Dean Hartley
• Yuhuan He
• Bryan C. Heiderscheit, PhD, PT
• Ilkka Heinonen
• Jennifer Hernandez 
• Martin E. Héroux
• Matthew P. Herring
• Jack T. Hickey, PhD, AEP
• Stacy Huen
• Noora Houttu
• Louis Ianuzzi, PT, CPed
• Hayley E. Iosue, DPM, AACFAS
• Mikel Izquierdo, PhD
• Allen Jacobs, DPM, FACFAS
• Dennis Janisse, CPed
• Erik Janisse, CO, CPed
• Ahmed Said J’Bari
• Asger Emil Jensen
• Alton R. Johnson Jr., DPM, DAPBM, FACPM
• Richard Jones
• Kari Kalliokoski
• Jason R. Karp, PhD
• Seamus Kennedy
• Lilly Khavari, DPM, FACPM
• Michael King, DPM, FACFAS, FASPS
• Juhani Knuuti
• Brenda Kramer, BS
• Jason Kraus
• Jeff Kuhn, PhD
• Saara Laine
• Kirsi Laitinen
• Brian Landow
• Brian Lane, CPed
• Christina K. Langley
• Chris Lawrie, MSc (Dist)
• Jim Lawson
• Benoit Lebrun
• Jeffrey Lehrman DPM, FASPS, MAPWCA, CPC
• Amelia Bruce Leicht
• Yann LeMeur
• Fengfeng Li
• Shari Lipner, MD, PhD
• Anmin Liu
• Minghsun Liu, MD
• Keith Loria
• Eliisa Löyttyniemi
• Bruce Malkinson
• Brandon Maggen, NHD, HRD, MSc, PhD, FFPM RCPS (Glasg)
• Bryan Markinson, DPM
• Valerie Marmalejo, DPM, MS, CTBS, MWC
• Ana Martinez-Santos
• Steven McClain, MD, FAPWH
• James McGuire, DPM, PT, LPed, FAPWHc
• Mark J. Mendeszoon, DPM, FACFAS
• Michael Miller, DO, FAPWH
• Jeff Moreno, PT, DPT
• Renan L. Monteiro
• Jonathan Moore, DPM, MS, MA
• Dylan Morrissey
• Christopher Nester
• David A. Opar, PhD
• Avnee Jiten Patel, BS
• Krupa Patel, DPM, FACFAS
• Russell Payne, PhD
• Ben Pearl, DPM
• Bruno Pereira
• Nadeer Pirani, MD, FRCPC
• Chloe Potter
• Trevor Prior
• Ame Proietti
• Ryan Quarrington
• Patrick Rainville
• Jose Ramirez-Garcialuna, MD, MSc, PhD
• Steven Zartov Rasmussen
• Michael Skovdal Rathleff
• Benjamin Raud
• Joanna Reeves
• Lucy S. Robertson
• Antonio Robustelli, MSc, CSCS
• Michael Ryan, PhD
• Isabel C. N. Sacco
• Sarah Cohen Salomon, MD
• Pamela Scarborough, PT, DPT, CWS, FAAWC
• Steffen Christian Ekkehard Schmidt, DPhil
• Rick Schultz, DBA
• Robert Schwartz, CPed
• Stefan Sell, Prof Dr, DMed
• Harri Sievänen
• Érica Q. Silva
• Tanja Sjöros
• Thomas Sørensen
• Emily Splichal, DPM
• Susan St. John, CRNP
• Eric Stephenson
• Randy Stevens, CPed
• Karine JV Stoelben
• Philip Stotter, CEP
• Mike Studer, PT, DPT, MHS, NCS, CEEAA, CWT
• Robin Teater
• James Tracy
• Henri Vähä-Ypyä
• Tommi Vasankari
• Jady L. Veríssimo
• Bill Vicenzino
• Lutz Vogt
• Bill Wannop, PhD
• Robert Weil, DPM
• Ira Weiner, DPM
• Leigh J. Weiss, DPT, PT, ATC 
• Josh White, DPM
• April Wilson, BS, CMPTA, CKTP, CCI
• Alexander Woll, Prof Dr
• Brent Wright, CPO
• Peter Young
• Marek Zajac
• Dalia Zwick PT, PhD