Maryanne O'Hara - a podcast by Kathryn Zox

Kathryn interviews Internist, Massachusetts General Hospital & Assistant Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School Steven Gardner MD, author of “Jabberwocky: Lessons of Love from a Boy Who Never Spoke.” During his abbreviated 22-year life, Graham Gardner was unable to speak or to walk on his own, yet he forged meaningful relationships wherever he went. His cerebral palsy forced him to rely on other people — sometimes complete strangers — for absolutely everything, yet he accepted his reality, lived in the present moment, reveled in relationships, and exuded radiance around him. His parents and his community of friends, caregivers, schoolmates and campmates were transformed by his zest for life, his sense of humor and his grace under adversity. His father, Dr. Gardner, shares the many transformative opportunities and expressions of love that Graham and his parents experienced throughout his short life. Dr Gardner is a winner of the Harvard Medical School Humanism in Medicine Award and past Medical Director of the Massachusetts Special Olympics. Kathryn also interviews End-of-life Doula Maryanne O’Hara, author of “Little Matches: A Memoir of Grief and Light.” When their only child was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis (CF) at the age of two, Maryanne and her husband were told that Caitlin could live a long life or die in a matter of months. Thirty-one years later, following an excruciating, two-year wait on the transplant list and a last-minute race to locate a pair of healthy lungs, a story that attracted nationwide attention, Caitlin lost her battle with this pernicious disease. Little Matches is Maryanne’s intimate recounting of Caitlin’s journey and her own, weaving a rich narrative of memories with text messages, emails, journal entries and even drawings. O’Hara, former fiction editor of Ploughshares, is a Reiki master certified by the University of Vermont’s Larner College of Medicine as an end-of-life doula so that she might better speak to the state of end-of-life care in our culture.

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