[informal bio here]

[professional curriculum vitae here...with photo]

[Christian testimony here]

CONTACT: poptop43@yahoo.com

As an M. D. physician, I am in the active practice of pathology in West Columbia, S. C., USA. I am responsible for the entirety of this website. The medical portion of this site is a result of the frustration I felt as a senior medical student in Charleston in 1969 when my first mother-in-law underwent huge surgery, one result of which was a colostomy. There were no such things as support groups or special teaching nurses at that time. She was discharged to the care of my wife and me in our little 2nd-floor apartment. Unlike modern times with the internet, nowhere was there information for patients or caregivers on how to cope with the loved one's changed conditions.

In 1986, I was able to persuade our hospital administrator here in West Columbia to start a support group network collecting contact info on all Midlands medical support groups. With online communication so helpful through the internet search engines, this effort has become extinct.

I offer the information as a Caucasian Southern male:

• born into a Christian family within a town of Judeo-Christian orientation,
• a prodigal son from the faith for a very important 25 years of my adult life,
• a privately practicing physician with scientific perspective,
• as one whose life fell apart in my mind in June 1987 (I was age 42),
• as one who drug his heels in coming back to the faith, and then
• as one who became subtly challenged (by the Holy Spirit?) to struggle out my personal beliefs as to The Way.

I am Ervin Bartow Shaw, Jr., M. D.; and I have been in the very active practice of pathology in a fine acute care community hospital...Lexington Medical center...since 1975. Have you had architectural drawings commissioned to build a house, had a will composed by an attorney, an estate plan developed by an attorney, or paid a commission to a realty for an agent's help in purchasing or selling property? Though all of these are important in your life, none compare in importance to having your lab work done correctly and expeditiously...or having an accurate, full, and communicative pathology exam and report done when you are caught up in an important disease such as cancer! But pathologists are tucked away in obscurity, and I also want to share some medical information on this web site from our vantage point.

When I found out about the internet in  1994, I saw a chance to share information about a number of areas of interest. From the medical aspect & having quite a lot of prostate cancer biopsy-diagnosis experience, my first medical file was the one (1st draft in 1995) on this web site about prostate cancer (see "site index" for others) which I started for my uncle (but initially actually posted it on the web site in 1998).

I enjoy sharing the information on this web site, but I am hopeless at being able to keep it (medical issues) all current and "cutting edge". This is one of many reasons that I urge you to use my information only as a sort of "partial education"...not as medical advice! Please note the faith factor in health & recovery and some of the faith miracles that I have posted on the website.

Site Funding:

(1) for my personal site: "The Truth...What is It?" http://www.theeffectivetruth.info has a direct hosting cost of less than $150 per year and no direct costs of any other type. That direct cost and the personal time costs of developing and maintaining this site are gladly borne by the site author, and there is not any kind of "quid pro quo" compensation to the author or any other person or entity. Neither the author, nor  the website, nor any other entity accepts any compensation for advertising; and the only deliberate "advertising" is to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ. The site/information is copyrighted but made available for the free personal use of individuals.

(2) for our doctor group's site: "Pathology Associates of Lexington, P. A." http://www.palpath.com has a direct hosting cost of less than $150 per year. A portion of the salaried time of this pathology group's full-time employee Administrative Assistant and an occasional per-item contracting fee to several other sources constitute the direct costs. Those direct costs and the personal time costs of developing and maintaining this site are gladly borne by the group & the site author; and there is not any kind of "quid pro quo" compensation to the author or any other person or entity. The site/information is copyrighted but made available for the free personal use of individuals.

Privacy and Confidentiality:

There is no information on either of the sites which can reveal any confidential information about a medical patient. There is some personal information in non-medical areas of site (1) which has either been permitted by the person or is a matter of public record. In (2) any e-mail to the site author or any of our group's doctors, personal information will be kept strictly confidential unless expressly permitted by the sender.