iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Sayed Tabatabai, MD @therealdoctort.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

I have this habit of telling my office staff I believe in them. It started as a pep talk thing, but now it’s just how I end almost every conversation with my staff. “I believe in you!” Found this note on my desk after a brutal drive through Texas traffic with a long clinic day ahead. We got this!

Photo of a note written neatly on a piece of paper on my desk. It reads:

“I believe in you!” - Dr T voice :)

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Sayed Tabatabai, MD @therealdoctort.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

It’s okay to say you got nothin’…

Screenshot of a news article from the Miami Herald. Headline reads: “Scarlett Johansson changed her magnesium supplement routine after a spray left her feet feeling dry.” Beneath the headline is a photo of actress Scarlett Johansson smiling.

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Sayed Tabatabai, MD @therealdoctort.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

A thought on this sunny Sunday. In March of 1973, a man identified only as “Mr. Nadeau” wrote to famed author E.B. White, writer of “Charlotte’s Web,” and “Stuart Little.” Nadeau wrote to say he was in despair, and had lost faith in the future of humanity. White replied…

Photo of a letter from EB White:

North Brooklin, Maine
30 March 1973
Dear Mr. Nadeau:
As long as there is one upright man, as long as there is one compassionate woman, the contagion may spread and the scene is not desolate. Hope is the thing that is left to us, in a bad time. I shall get up Sunday morning and wind the clock, as a contribution to order and steadfastness.
Sailors have an expression about the weather: they say, the weather is a great bluffer. I guess the same is true of our human society-things can look dark, then a break shows in the clouds, and all is changed, sometimes rather suddenly. It is quite obvious that the human race has made a queer mess of life on this planet.
But as a people we probably harbor seeds of goodness that have lain for a long time waiting to sprout when the conditions are right. Man's curiosity, his relentlessness, his inventiveness, his ingenuity have led him into deep trouble. We can only hope that these same traits will enable him to claw his way out.
Hang on to your hat. Hang on to your hope. And wind
the clock, for tomorrow is another day.
Sincerely,
E.B. White

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Sayed Tabatabai, MD @therealdoctort.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

‘Instead of “blueberries kill you” just say there’s a “reasonable probability of death.”’ “Wait, isn’t that the same thing?” “No! Now it’s…. reasonable.”

static.klipy.com

Mad Men: Don Draper's 'My Pleasure' Smile

Alt: Mad Men: Don Draper's 'My Pleasure' Smile

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Sayed Tabatabai, MD @therealdoctort.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

How to ask a colleague for a recommendation.

Screenshot of a text conversation:
Friend: Are they gonna show you what I wrote?

Me: Lmao no, but if I don’t get this job I’ll pretty much know who to kill

Friend: (mimicking an interview) Question
"”What can this candidate improve on?"

Me
"Nothing"

Question
"What can you tell our manager about the candidate"

Me
"You are lucky to have him"”

Me: That’s the spirit

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Reposted by Sayed Tabatabai, MD

Megaholt 𓅃 @megaholt.medsky.social · 08/08/2026

Once again, @therealdoctort.bsky.social has me ugly crying while reading a few pages of his book (I keep trying not to admonish myself for not reading it faster, but it’s difficult to read through tears)… You and I hit our walls with regard to the pandemic at roughly the same point in time, friend.

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Sayed Tabatabai, MD @therealdoctort.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

“We leave something of ourselves behind when we leave a place, we stay there, even though we go away. And there are things in us that we can find again only by going back there.” -Pascal Mercier

Screenshot of a tweet on Twitter by “@hedgieMarkets”

“🦔AI companies are bulk-buying rare books, scanning them through high-speed machines that cut the spines off, and shredding the originals. A service called ISBNdb facilitates orders of up to a million books and keeps buyers anonymous. Pre-2022 books are premium because they're free of AI-generated text. A federal judge ruled the practice is fair use because eliminating the original means only one copy exists at a time. Anthropic hired the former head of Google Books partnerships to obtain "all the books in the world."

My Take
This got to me. A bookseller told 404 Media that rare books with almost no surviving copies are being fed into this pipeline. Books that survived wars, fires, and centuries of handling are being shredded so an AI can learn to write a better marketing email.”

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Sayed Tabatabai, MD @therealdoctort.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

Science fiction is sometimes wrong, but mostly it’s just early.

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Sayed Tabatabai, MD @therealdoctort.bsky.social · 19/07/2026

“The Odyssey” is spectacular filmmaking. Beautiful, terrifying, visceral, tactile, even the most mythical elements seem fully realized. There’s a moment that shattered me, and I can’t forget it. A meditation on all that we are, all that we carry, and all that we can’t leave behind. 10/10.

Photo of Matt Damon as Odysseus from The Odyssey. He looks weary, in armor, looking up at something off-screen. He is bearded and his beard and hair are scraggly.

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Sayed Tabatabai, MD @therealdoctort.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

Wildfire smoke is contaminating the air. Fruit and vegetables have parasites. Bread rolls have glass inside. Sam Neill died. It’s been a week.

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Sayed Tabatabai, MD @therealdoctort.bsky.social · 21/04/2026

I really enjoyed sitting down with Dr. Saba Fatima and having this conversation. I honestly wasn’t sure which way things would go or what exactly we’d end up talking about, but sometimes the best conversations start that way. youtu.be/rJzuKf-57iU

youtu.be

E43:The Patient Beyond the Chart: Listening to What We Miss(w/Dr Sayed Tabatabai)

YouTube video by Muted in Medicine

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Reposted by Sayed Tabatabai, MD

Megaholt 𓅃 @megaholt.medsky.social · 15/02/2026

Re-reading @therealdoctort.bsky.social’s book and a line stuck out: “The dawning realization hits me: I have been learning how to ride a bike by reading about it.” Funny thing about that…I taught myself a bunch of the basics of figure skating by watching it on TV and by reading it in a book.

My twin (in a purple coat and light pink pants) and I (in dark pink everything) on the tiny ice rink that was our flooded front yard as little kids, in our tiny skates.

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Sayed Tabatabai, MD @therealdoctort.bsky.social · 14/02/2026

Since nobody is being held accountable, and capital only understands the language of capital, is there a comprehensive Epstein boycott/don’t-vote-for list yet? Or is it basically almost every major corporation and politician?

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Sayed Tabatabai, MD @therealdoctort.bsky.social · 13/02/2026

Paying my taxes, quivering with incandescent rage.

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Sayed Tabatabai, MD @therealdoctort.bsky.social · 11/02/2026

RIP James Van Der Beek from colorectal cancer. Little side story. One of the nurses I work with, loved Dawson’s Creek so much she named her daughter Dawson. In 2020 I asked James to record a little message for them both (via Cameo) to help cheer them up in the depths of the COVID pandemic. 1/2

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Sayed Tabatabai, MD @therealdoctort.bsky.social · 02/02/2026

"Part of how they make you obey is by making obedience seem peaceful, while resistance is violence. But really, either choice is about violence, one way or another." -Charlie Jane Anders, “The City in the Middle of the Night.”

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Sayed Tabatabai, MD @therealdoctort.bsky.social · 25/01/2026

Positive aspect of the snowstorm. I finished 10,000 words of my novel last night. Gimme caffeine, and no other options, and I will FINISH THIS BOOK.

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Sayed Tabatabai, MD @therealdoctort.bsky.social · 25/01/2026

I finally have access to my Twitter/X account again! For the past 5 days my account has been hacked. If you received any messages from “CoachSelena75” or “CoachSophie” your account may have been compromised. Sorry to everyone who suddenly got deluged with crypto posts and Elon retweets.

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Sayed Tabatabai, MD @therealdoctort.bsky.social · 22/01/2026

FYI to anyone who follows my main account on Twitter/X “therealdoctort,” unfortunately the account has been hacked and the name has been changed. I’ve reached out to @X to try and regain control. Please disregard any posts or messages coming from that account until I can get it back. Thanks.

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Sayed Tabatabai, MD @therealdoctort.bsky.social · 16/01/2026

“…And hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was a light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.” J.R.R. Tolkien, “The Lord of the Rings.”

Image of a lone white star shining in the night sky high above a jagged mountain range wreathed in dark clouds.

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Sayed Tabatabai, MD @therealdoctort.bsky.social · 07/01/2026

Flu is surging at record levels. Measles is exploding, an outbreak in South Carolina just passed 200 hospitalized cases. ICE just shot and killed a U.S. citizen. We overthrew Venezuela for their oil and wanna “buy” Greenland. National debt is $38 trillion. Healthcare is crumbling rapidly now.

Screenshot of a headline, “OpenAI suggests ChatGPT play doctor as millions of Americans face spiking insurance costs: ‘in the U.S. ChatGPT has become an important ally.”

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Sayed Tabatabai, MD @therealdoctort.bsky.social · 17/11/2025

Done with streaming. I wish there was a service where all the channels were available in one package from one company that connected to the back of your TV via a cable…

A screenshot of a series of emails from the Apple subscription hub for a variety of streaming services including HBO Max, Peacock, and Apple TV+. The emails are all titled “your subscription price increase.”

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Sayed Tabatabai, MD @therealdoctort.bsky.social · 31/08/2025

I’ve had the privilege to work with the best group of colleagues a doctor could ever ask for. Here’s to the doctors, NPs, PAs, nurses, RTs, PT/OTs, SLPs, RDs, PCTs, and all the support staff that made everything possible. Peace out SATX! Till next time… (Y’all are some talented artists too!)

Photo of a piece of art, a card with a painting of me giving a peace sign while smiling, with a silhouette of the San Antonio skyline in the background, and the words “Peace Out San Antonio, NCB Crew” in a graffiti style.

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Sayed Tabatabai, MD @therealdoctort.bsky.social · 04/06/2025

Good thing AI is taking on the menial jobs so humans can focus on making art and creating t- wait, what?

Screenshot of a post by Variety.

Two photos of Jennifer Lawrence and Keanu Reeves are beneath a block of text that reads:

Lionsgate boss says the studio can use AI to adjust a movie's tone and rating, convert live-action into animation and create kid-friendly cuts: "Now we can say, ‘Do it in anime, make it PG-13.’ Three hours later, I’ll have the movie."

The studio hopes its pact with AI startup company Runway allows directors the chance to “make movies and television shows we’d otherwise never make. We can’t make it for $100 million, but we’d make it for $50 million because of AI… We’re banging around the art of the possible. Let’s try some stuff, see what sticks.”

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Sayed Tabatabai, MD @therealdoctort.bsky.social · 04/06/2025

“No, I would not want to live in a world without dragons, as I would not want to live in a world without magic, for that is a world without mystery, and that is a world without faith.” - R.A. Salvatore.

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Sayed Tabatabai, MD @therealdoctort.bsky.social · 24/05/2025

This tactic is part of the foundation of toxicity in modern medical practice. Physicians lack dedication, devotion, resiliency, you name it. The system is never at fault. The system must never change. Our problem is we just went to medical school to take the easy route…

Tweet by Congressman Greg Murphy: “So troublesome to see so many young doctors complaining about how hard the job is. Your job is taking care of patients. It’s called dedication. It’s called devotion. If you wanted an easy life you should have chosen something else.”

Reply by Tyler Olsen: “Have you listened to them explain what exactly is so hard about the job? Because it’s not patient care they’re complaining about.”

Reply by theboxdoc: “He ran for Congress because medicine was too hard. I worked with him- he whined incessantly about the hospital, the system and the patients. The statement from him is ludicrous hypocrisy.”

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Sayed Tabatabai, MD @therealdoctort.bsky.social · 29/04/2025

When you’re trying to do some teaching and are also easily distracted…

A photo of a whiteboard with one half showing treatments for various kinds of kidney diseases, and the other half with a list of movies and TV shows.

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Sayed Tabatabai, MD @therealdoctort.bsky.social · 24/04/2025

Hot coffee, cold showers Someday you're gonna get your flowers All your pills come over the counter Yeah, they were so wrong about ya Let 'em look at you now like you're Hannibal Lector They wanted a villain, and you deserved better Yeah, you deserved better - “Too Pretty for Buffalo” by Baby Nova

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Sayed Tabatabai, MD @therealdoctort.bsky.social · 10/04/2025

An excerpt from the Nebula Award-winning novel, “Parable of the Talents.” Written by Octavia Butler, published in 1998, and relevant as ever.

Screenshot of a quote:

Choose your leaders
with wisdom and forethought.
To be led by a coward
is to be controlled
by all that the coward fears.
To be led by a fool
is to be led
by the opportunists
who control the fool.
To be led by a thief
is to offer up
your most precious treasures
to be stolen.
To be led by a liar
is to ask
to be told lies.
To be led by a tyrant
is to sell yourself
and those you love
into slavery.

- Octavia Butler, “Parable of the Talents.”

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Sayed Tabatabai, MD @therealdoctort.bsky.social · 27/03/2025

Measles? Check. Trade war? Check. Child labor? Uhh…

Screenshot of a news article from CNN:
“Florida debates lifting some child labor laws to fill jobs vacated by undocumented immigrants.” By Jordan Valinsky, CNN.

Screenshot of an excerpt of text from a news article.

“Florida has been working for years to crack down on employers that hire undocumented immigrants. But that presented a problem for businesses in the state that are desperate for workers to fill low-wage and often undesirable jobs.

Florida's Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and the state legislature have a potential solution:
children.”

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Sayed Tabatabai, MD @therealdoctort.bsky.social · 20/03/2025

I’m not gonna say the future is bleak, but the future is bleak.

Screenshot of a headline from the San Antonio Express News website dated March 20th, 2025.

“Don’t do the shots” say parents of West Texas child who died of measles. “She is better off where she is now versus all the negativity and all the stuff going on.”

By Annasofia Scheve, staff writer.

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Sayed Tabatabai, MD @therealdoctort.bsky.social · 16/03/2025

This reminds me of the time Elon said he would give $6 billion (2% of his wealth at the time) to the UN World Food Program if they could give him a plan to eradicate world hunger. In 3 days they gave a detailed report. He never mentioned the report, and donated the money to his own foundation.

Screenshot of a tweet by “owl at the library” (@sketchesbyboze):

Not to defend the robber barons but Andrew
Carnegie, the richest man of his era, gave away 90 percent of his wealth and funded the building of 2,811 libraries, and I'm afraid the current crop of oligarchs isn't sending their best.

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Sayed Tabatabai, MD @therealdoctort.bsky.social · 15/03/2025

I remember the cystic fibrosis patients I took care of 20 years ago. I also remember the dedicated HIV wards in the hospitals, and that Princess Diana made headlines for shaking hands with AIDS patients. Progress has been incredible. Miracles are where you choose to see them.

Screenshot of tweet from @AlecStapp
“Too many people take biomedical innovation for granted.”
Below this is a screenshot from an article on the Atlantic.com. Highlighted is the text: “A child born with cystic fibrosis in the 50s could expect to live until age 5. In the 70s, age 10. In the early 2000s, age 35. With Trikafta came a quantum leap. Today those who begin taking the drug in early adolescence, a recent study projected, can expect to survive to age 82.5 - an essentially normal lifespan.”

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Sayed Tabatabai, MD @therealdoctort.bsky.social · 03/03/2025

“So what are your thoughts on America? Americans?” “I don’t know, maybe you will be taking offense.” “No, I want to know, seriously.” “I don’t know, I think there is … confusion. Confusion here.” “How so?” “Americans really not know who they are.” “I’m listening.”

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Sayed Tabatabai, MD @therealdoctort.bsky.social · 26/02/2025

"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!" Emma Lazarus 11/2/1883

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Sayed Tabatabai, MD @therealdoctort.bsky.social · 20/02/2025

Now hollow fires burn out to black, And lights are fluttering low: Square your shoulders, lift your pack And leave your friends and go. O never fear, lads, naught’s to dread, Look not left nor right: In all the endless road you tread There’s nothing but the night. A.E. Housman #burnout

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Sayed Tabatabai, MD @therealdoctort.bsky.social · 21/01/2025

Ahh, sweet San Antonio. Where a tiny dusting of snow turns the town into a set from The Last of Us…

Photo of a normally bustling road that is deserted, covered in a few small patches of snow, with an overcast sky.

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Sayed Tabatabai, MD @therealdoctort.bsky.social · 19/01/2025

It wasn’t TikTok users who were hacked into giving up the blueprints to America’s most advanced stealth fighter. If TikTok is so risky for its ties to the Chinese, why is Rednote freely available? This is just another in an endless parade of calculated distractions in the United States of Amnesia.

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Sayed Tabatabai, MD @therealdoctort.bsky.social · 31/12/2024

“For last year's words belong to last year's language, And next year's words await another voice.” -T.S. Eliot, “Four Quartets.” Here’s to leaving what needs to be let go, and holding on to what needs to be kept. Happy New Year everyone.

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Reposted by Sayed Tabatabai, MD

NPR @npr.org · 26/12/2024

Only about 300 to 400 people a year give a kidney to someone they never met. It's an act of generosity so unusual, a neuroscientist studies the people who do this.

npr.org

Giving a kidney to a stranger? Researchers call it 'extraordinary altruism'

Only about 300 to 400 people a year give a kidney to someone they never met. It's an act of generosity so unusual, a neuroscientist studies the people who do this.

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Sayed Tabatabai, MD @therealdoctort.bsky.social · 24/12/2024

The Killers released a Christmas song every year for over a decade. All proceeds from those singles went to charity. Those songs are now all together on an album: “Don’t Waste Your Wishes.” Check it out if you want some different Christmas tunes! They’re bangers.

Image of the cover of “Don’t Waste Your Wishes” by The Killers. Silhouette of a tree against a night sky with stars, and mountains in the background.

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