About Me
Dr. Cason on Apr 15th 2008
Hi, My name is Sheila Cason. Welcome to my site.
This is a blog about collection of things- mostly being a parent and practicing pediatrics. You’ll also find some of my hobbies scattered throughout- photography, writing and cooking. I obtained my medical degree from George Washington University Medical Center in Washington DC and completed my residency in Pediatrics from the Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughter’s in Norfolk, Virginia. I chose pediatrics because it was the only thing I could see myself loving day in and day out.
I live on Guam. It’s hot and humid and very relaxing here. I’ve been married for 8 years and have three children. Two girls and a boy. We’re a military family- the US Navy brought us here. I practice pediatrics and love it.
I created this website so I could change the way parents and pediatricians communicate. My ultimate goal is to travel providing pediatric care to underserved areas. I flip between mommy and pediatrican a lot of the times and sometimes I’m both - those of you who hear my kids screaming outside the exam room know what I’m talking about.
I’m a pediatrician BUT unless you’ve signed in, waited in my small and cozy waiting room and then I’ve seen you face to face, examined your child and documented my advice to you, then we can safely assume that I’m not your child’s pediatrician.
All medical advice should be taken as a suggestion and you need to take your child to their doctor for a complete exam and formal recommendation. If you really have a question that you’re dying to get my perspective on, please feel free to leave me a comment and I’d be delighted to help!
Whew- having said that- Please feel free to look around.
Hannah McDowellon 15 May 2008 at 2:24 pm 1Ohh my goodness it has been so long since I have talked to you. Both girls have grown up so much since I saw them last and you have aboy now too. WOW I didn’t know that. Well i have to go hope you can email me back and we can stay in contact for a while, if you remember me?
Dr. Casonon 15 May 2008 at 3:21 pm 2Hannah!
Of course I remember you! How could I forget 8 yrs ago when we first moved in you were this spunky little blond girl playing out front and you came running over and introduced yourself. Now my own little ones are just like you and I love it! I’ll email you!
Larueon 07 Jun 2008 at 12:36 pm 3Sorry to be so comment-y all at once, but my brother and his wife live in Guam! He is with the Department of Defense, and she stays home with their almost 1-year-old. She is originally from Japan, where they met. If you ever meet Tim and Megumi Sather (and baby Koh) they are my relatives.
What a small world.
ferasofon 15 Jun 2008 at 10:36 am 4Hello
I just wanted to say that your blog seems very interesting and useful, I liked topics related to medicine and music. I have read it more than once , at the first, read it for practice in English language, but I found it very useful too.
Excuse me for my bad language.
Thank you
ferasofs last blog post..my village (Al-owinia)
Dr. Casonon 17 Jun 2008 at 5:52 am 5Welcome Larue and Ferasof!
Larue-I’ll keep an eye out for your brother. Already I asked around but no contact yet!
Ferasof-Your English is pretty good! Writing and reading blogs are a good way to keep improving.Thanks for visiting me!
Rebecca Brownon 20 Jun 2008 at 3:27 am 6Great blog! I stumbled across yours from the Farm Diva blog that I read often. The Pioneer Woman is a great blog too. We just left Guam a year ago. My hubby was the Navy Hospital Chaplain for 3 years. We LOVED it there and miss it very much. We are now in Norfolk. My blog is snickerdoodledog.blogspot.com
May I link yours to mine? Well, enjoy that beautiful island!!! Rebecca
Ambre Hodgeon 20 Jun 2008 at 3:07 pm 7Thank you so much for the comment you left on All Fired Up Pottery. I am so glad that you stopped by, I am enjoying your blog. I have heard that Guam is such a beautiful place. I’ve seen some pictures from my cousin (Rebecca Browns) blog. Thanks again for stopping by and we’re going to try to get everything fired pretty soon, so keep an eye out. My personal blog is http://www.busybees3.blogspot.com I have 3 little monsters that keep me pretty busy.
Ambre Hodges last blog post..ANOTHER VILLAGE
Dr. Casonon 20 Jun 2008 at 9:15 pm 8Hi Cousins Rebecca and Ambre!
Welcome to our little family! I’ll be coming back to you two soon!
kcinnovaon 21 Jun 2008 at 12:21 pm 9Thank you for stopping by my blog and commenting. I see we have Mrs. G in common; it sounds like food allergies in young children is something else we have in common. My now-15yo was very allergic to dairy & soy his first 4 years; citrus (citric acid) was also a problem, and his skin test showed positive for eggs. It took his first 4 miserable months to find the dairy allergy by trial and error (I was breastfeeding, so it was all about what I was eating)…after this I substituted a lot of soy products in my diet, only to find EB was allergic to soy. By this point, I knew to avoid the other biggies: eggs, strawberries, nuts, and corn. For some reason, we escaped the wheat allergy. It was a challenge to feed my son, and yet we did manage. I do understand the frustrations you are going through as you navigate the maze of food allergies and trying to find a diet that works for you. I’m about to take a 2-week vacation away (this will enable my dh to escape from work at Walter Reed) but you can find me again at http://kcinnova.wordpress.com
kcinnovas last blog post..Battle of the Bulge
Dr. Casonon 21 Jun 2008 at 2:55 pm 10Kcinnova,
I think the hardest thing is actually determining whether he has an allergy or not. The IgE testing only really predicts whether they are allergic or not. The gold standard is what happens when they eat it. He seems to be fine with wheat now. I don’t know about dairy- we’ll see soon. Egg - that’s not good at all and we’ll stay away from it for a long time. Hopefully he’ll outgrow it! Walter Reed! That means you’re from my old stompin’ grounds! Have a great vacation! I’ll keep you in my reader.
Beth from the Funny Farmon 25 Jun 2008 at 12:11 pm 11Wow. What a great blog! I’m enjoying getting to know you page by page.
Beth from the Funny Farms last blog post..Photos From Crooked Creek
Irene Changon 05 Jul 2008 at 3:38 am 12Sheila, I can’t believe that it’s been a year since you left for Guam! I loved seeing pictures of your kids–you and John look well. I have one more month of maternity leave before I’m back. Baby Sarah’s asleep now, so I’ve got time to catch up on a million little mommy things. Please send me your tips on pumping at work, in the car, or otherwise on the run!
Dr. Casonon 05 Jul 2008 at 2:17 pm 13Beth- Thanks! You’re welcome to come over anytime!
Irene- Yeah! It’s so nice to hear from you. I have the tips for you:
http://drcason.org/2008/07/05/how-to-coordinate-breastfeeding-and-returning-to-work/ Enjoy your time with baby Sarah. I always look back at that time and ache to hold my sweet baby. They are never that small again.
Aunt Laurieon 06 Jul 2008 at 3:38 pm 14Hi Shelia
Thank you for sharing your web site. The children you and John look great. Glad you are enjoying Guam. I loved it as did my parents.
Keep up the great work. We are very proud of you and John.
Take care.
Terryon 06 Jul 2008 at 7:51 pm 15Hey Sheila.
It was nice to see your website and read your writing. It was especially nice to see you have not changed. I can hear your voice when you write. The site looks great and the family photos are awesome.
Terry Tupper
Dr. Casonon 06 Jul 2008 at 8:23 pm 16Aunt Laurie- We miss you guys too! Thanks for visiting, it’s great to have family here!
Terry- Well since you’ve known me longer than other friend, I am particularly pleased to have you here at my site. Thank you for the support.
Anneon 08 Aug 2008 at 12:32 am 17Dr. Cason,
I enjoyed reading your blog. I am also a pediatrician/Navy wife relocating to Guam from the DC area, after having been in private practice for 5 years and working for the Navy for 1 year. Any advice for a fellow pediatrician looking for employment opportunities in Guam?
Kleahon 22 Aug 2008 at 12:19 am 18Wow! god bless you! a doctor, a mother, a photographer and a cook! you are my new idol! and i love your pictures! i came across it through stumbleupon!
Diana Laon 02 Sep 2008 at 7:14 am 19Mrs. Cason! I just tried emailing you and your family .. with a mass email I sent to some of the families in Guam and it got sent back
Luckily, I was able to find your blog. I apologize that it took two weeks for me to get in touch, but I’ve been sick with Bronchitis since being home. I hope everything is going well for your family and especially for the kids. My whole staff and I miss all three of them. Please keep in touch and feel free to email me so I can send you pictures and the songs.
Take care,
Diana La
(Miss Hummingbird - Camp Adventure)
mark joneson 13 Oct 2008 at 6:39 pm 20Dear Sheila Cason
I did a phd to help children in hospital. it is now a web based CBT system to help children relax and more.
We have the support from Dr Chris Steele a well know TV doctor but we are trying to let doctors and parents know we exits.
Please have a look and please give me some feedback
Regards
mark
http://www.animalagentz.com
Malachion 23 Oct 2008 at 3:48 am 21Hello Dr. Cason,
I just read your blog on the ugly side of being a doctor; it has really given me a powerful insight into what it really takes being a doctor.
I am an Irish Leaving Cert. student (equivelent to SATS) and am strongly considering taking medicine in college. I wondered if you could give me advice on my decision. I am stuck between choosing a science or medicine and I am looking for all the angles i can get.
Thank you so much for reading this and I look forward greatly to your reply when you find a moment. my email is nosferato_06 [at] hotmail [dot] com.
Sláinte as Éirinn,
Malachi.
Dr. Casonon 25 Oct 2008 at 1:06 pm 22Anne- Aggghh! How’d I miss you this little comment! Have you moved yet? I hjave a lot of tips I can tell you! Email me a sheila@drcason.org and I’ll let you know…
Kleah- Aw shoot. Just doing what I love. Glad you enjoy it!
Diana- My girl sure does miss you all. She just pulled out a pic that had your name on it!
Mark- What a great site. I have seen this type of things with the kids and it appears to work very well for pain and anxiety control.
Malachi- I just wrote a post addressing that very issue. I’ll be putting it up tomorrow. I’ll email you! Good luck.
Vaneon 26 Oct 2008 at 7:52 pm 23Hey Dr.Cason,
I came to your blog via stumbleupon which leads me to the post “the ugly side of being a doctor”,good writing,i think.
I’m a medicine student from China,your blog will be helpful to me,either in English learning or in getting advice of being a doctor
Ericaon 27 Oct 2008 at 8:01 am 24Dr. Carson,
I am a pre-med student at Arizona State University and your blog has given me such great motivation. Time and time again, I wonder if I can get through school with the desire of being a wife and a mother. Your life proves its possible! Thank you. I hope I can serve underprivileged children in a foreign country someday too.
Sincerely,
Erica
Jannieon 06 Dec 2008 at 1:42 pm 25I just now read this About for the first time. This is a very special blog! And you a special lady.
virginiaon 16 Dec 2008 at 9:08 am 26My name is Virginia Rodriguez, and I work at Opposing Views. We’re a media company that takes timely questions that Americans are talking about, and then asks the best experts to weigh in with their opinions. The idea is that if we can bring together the most qualified experts, we can help the public understand important issues by providing them with the best information and opinions available.
I am hoping you would like to participate in discussions about whether parents should let their babies cry to sleep.
If you are interested, you would become one of our experts. You’d receive a profile page on opposingviews.com that includes your bio, picture (or logo), and link to your website. To participate in a debate, we ask you to provide four or five reasons that support your position (if you would like to re-purpose previous work that is fine with us). Please note that we will not edit your work in any way, and we moderate all user comments to keep the discussion high level, respectful and thoughtful.
I invite you to visit our site to get a better idea of our format, as well as to see the opinions of some of the experts currently on our site (which include Elizabeth Pantley, Dr. Jane Nelsen, the NRA, the Brady Campaign,
Sierra Club, PETA, Family Research Council and Lambda Legal, among many others). I think you’ll also find this debate interesting:
http://www.opposingviews.com/questions/are-autism-and-vaccines-linked
Would you be interested in contributing to the debate, “Should you let your child cry it out to sleep”? I’d also be happy to discuss any other debate topic ideas you may have.
We’d like to publish your debate by December 29, 2008, and we’d love for you to be one of the first of a limited number of experts in the debate. Let me know if you have any questions or comments, and if you’d like to talk about the next steps. I appreciate your consideration.
Sincerely,
Virginia
Dr. Thomas Shiehon 06 Jan 2009 at 8:27 am 27Wonderful website! Beautiful family and photos! Glad you are on Guam…Keep up the good work and keep taking photos! Some day, I might just get out there with my new Nikon D60.