I would like to once again give my deep appreciation to all of those teachers and encouragers I acknowledged in the First Edition of Screaming to Be Heard. Thank you for your role in helping me grow and develop as a physician and author.
As the years have passed, there are additional special people without whose efforts and support I would not be able to sustain our mission to gain attention for the overlooked hormone connections and provide help to the hundreds of women we see in each of the HER Place centers.
Kathryn A. Kresnik, who saw the enormous need for this work in women’s health and has invested time and energy above and beyond our initial agreements. Without her dedication, persistence, calm presence, and commitment, we would not have been able to build the successful women’s center in Texas or sustain the outreach efforts with my speaking and writing.
James Talmadge Boyd, M.D., FACOG, a caring and capable gynecologist who has long seen the need for more individualized approaches to women’s health and hormonal needs. Since joining our group, he has shown that it is the person of the physician that makes a women’s health specialist, not the gender. I have continued to learn from his experience and expertise, and he has added much to our practice, in both the art and science of medicine.
Carolyn Margraf, M.S., R.N., C.S., Clinical Specialist, and Donna Gilson, R.N., M.S.N., C.M.T/Clinical Specialist—both are extraordinarily gifted healers and advocates for women. Their dedication to the highest standards in the healing arts from many traditions, and their courage in the face of their own health challenges and life struggles have been an inspiration to me and to our staff and patients. Their spiritual and physical presence are gifts that enrich all of us at HER Place.
To Gordon Vliet, Linda Snyder, Samia Yasmin, Brandi McCoy, and Susan Anderson, my grateful appreciation for your efforts to keep the offices running well, to be responsive to the needs of our patients while supporting me in my writing responsibilities. And to Victoria Hahn, once again, the computer wizard who helped solve the technical difficulties so the book project could proceed.
Our business advisors, Tony Rickert (and his assistant, Debbie White) and David Cohen, have provided indispensible guidance, support, and encouragement through challenging times, helping us to grow responsibly.
My publisher, George C. de Kay, who has continued to be committed to seeing that my work and message reach a broader audience of women.
My editors, Betty Anne Crawford, who understood the importance of the message, and shaped and guided me as a beginning author with the First Edition; and PJ Dempsey, who helped hone and focus the Revised Edition while keeping the qualities that have touched responsive chords for readers. Both are women who understood why this book was so important and took a personal interest in seeing it done well.
And I also thank you, each of the women and men, who have given me the great priviledge of your trust as you came for consults and guidance on your heath problems. I have been awed by the courage you have shown in the face of your adversities, and your persistence in seeking answers. As I have listened to your insights, you have also taught me much that goes beyond the textbooks of medicine. Your experiences and words woven throughout this book are your legacy passed on to touch and help others. This book is your voice, too.