For a man five feet nine inches tall Doctor Joe was still a commanding presence. It wasn’t that he dressed well. Oh, he bought suits from Roos Bros. and Hart, [ … ]
Mischief, Marriage & More
In those rare times when Doctor Joe could get away for a vacation, he liked to keep his feet as close to the ground as possible. No, he never rode a motorcycle, but when hunting did ride horses and mules (there weren’t any ATV’s in Doctor Joe’s lifetime!). His preferred mode of travel was by […]
Who Was Doctor Joe?
It’s truly remarkable how patients tolerated Doctor Joe’s quirks and idiosyncrasies. He could get away with being gruff and irascible because above all else he was a very, very good [ … ]
A Few Final Thoughts
There is a great deal of truth to the statement that “doctors make the worst medical patients. An Example: for most of his life Doctor Joe was overweight. Despite [ … ]
A Garage Provides Mental Therapy
You have to realize that health care as it is delivered in the US today is far more specialized than when Doctor Joe practiced medicine. Surgeons hadn’t learned how to [ … ]
Doctor Joe & Cousin Mario
Now, Doctor Joe grew up on a ranch just outside the city limits of Murphy’s, California. That’s in Calaveras County set in the foothills of the Sierras. His one and [ … ]
Memorable Patients in Doctor Joe’s Life
GEORGE: To get the flavor of a doctor whose practice was made up of many “blue-collar” workers, I want to introduce you to George, a feisty, hard-drinking patient of Doctor [ … ]
Doctor Joe – Physician and Surgeon
Doctor Joe was my father, Joseph J. Raffetto, MD, who practiced in San Francisco, California from 1931 until his death in 1973. That Doctor Joe became an excellent medical practitioner [ … ]
Victory Gardens, Vegetables and Fireworks
You might be surprised at how windy and cold it could get in San Francisco, especially where we lived. Even a six-foot redwood fence didn’t afford the protection needed [ … ]
Of Dahlias and Ducks
Doctor Joe loved the big colorful dahlias growing at some of this patient’s home. Now dahlias are a favorite food of garden snails. Despite an ongoing attack on the snails, [ … ]