I worked night shift back then. I remember walking around the hospital. Everyone was busy but me and the nurses working in critical care. So, that's where I hung out.
I remember rolling ideas in my head for a title for my blog. I asked my CCU friends if they had any ideas. They did. But none of their ideas impressed me.
Finally, about halfway through the night, I said, "Well, folks, I'm going back to the cave!"
My eyes lit up.
"THAT'S IT!" I said. "I will call it the cave!"
I already knew I wanted respiratory therapy in the title. that way my blog would come up during any search for respiratory therapy.
I went back to the cave and decided to write. I had no idea what to write. I ended up writing this stupid article about the beeper. I read that post every anniversary date. And every year I think, "What a stupid post."
Sure, I've thought of deleting it. I have thought of editing it. But I don't.
It's kind of like saving your belt after you lose 30 or 40 pounds. You keep it even though it's worn out and useless to you now. You save it as a memento of what was and what is now not.
I wanted to write. I have always kept a journal. I started a journal when I was in high school. I did a diary before that. I just loved writing.
My dream was to be a published author. What I planned on was writing a book and getting it published. I wanted to be like Stephen King. I mean, I knew I wouldn't write like him, but I wanted to be published like him.
But I was unable to write that book. I was more of a columnist type of writer. I liked to write columns. But, I didn't have the confidence to publish what I wrote in the local newspaper. I say this even though the opportunity was there. I was asked to do it more than once.
But then something happened that I never anticipated: the Internet. It was there in all its glory. All I had to do was tap into it. And so I did.
I started the Cave. I decided to write something every day. My early stuff was shit. But, the more I wrote the better I got at it. I learned how to write pithy. I learned how to keep articles to one thought. I learned how to write for the Internet.
A year after I started this I received an email. It started with, "I love your blog." That email turned into my job at Healthcentral.com. I would write a weekly column for them for eight years.
That job came about just because I wrote. I wrote every day. And people must have liked what I wrote about. I know this because my blog was soon the #1 respiratory therapy blog not associated with a peer-reviewed journal. This is still true to this day.
But I did not make money on this blog. I just did it for fun. I did it to pay it forward, you might say.
There's this old saying that if you like to do something, and you do it and do it well, good things will come of it. I think it comes from the Bible. Well, one day I received that email. And, well, the rest is history.
I retired from Healthcentral in 2015. It was a hard decision. Now I write for Asthma.net and COPD.net. That's where most of my time is spent now.
But, this is my baby. So, you can expect for me to keep it around. If you have ideas what you want me to write about here, please do share. Like, if you have questions you want answered or whatever.
Anyway, it all started 10 years ago. It's been a great ride! It's been fun! I would like to thank YOU for making this so successful. None of this would be possible without YOU. THANK YOU!!!
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