Karen first became interested in Chinese medicine in 1980 and sought acapuncture and herbal treatments as an adjunct to her personal health care. Then, in 2005 when her oldest son developed a rare neurological disorder and US medicine failed to help him, she accompanied him during his journey to China for healing where the disease was successfully put into remission.
In 2007 she was invited to return to China to work with the American staff in the hospital where her son was a patient. She spent much of the summer of 2007 in Tianjin, China working with American and international patients in treatment there using her unique combination of skills-- medical social work, parent of a former patient, writer-- to enhance patient care.
She has written a series of short stories about her experiences. Several have recently been submitted for publication.
Seat 7F was published in Summer/Fall, #61 issue of KALEIDOSCOPE Literary Magazine: Exploring the Experience of Disability Through Literature and the Fine Arts. Seat 7F also received Honorable Mention in the 2010 Carpe Articulum's International Short Fiction Award Series.