I'm Tim — a nurse, and lately, a few other things too. ("Kay Maynard" combines my wife Dinah's and my own middle names — it's the name behind this collective, not mine personally.)

I've spent over a decade as a case manager at Parkland Hospital in Dallas, educating patients on heart failure, heart attacks, diabetes, and high blood pressure. Too many people leave the hospital still confused about their own diagnosis — this guide is built to close that gap: real clinical depth, written so you don't need a nursing degree to use it.

Before nursing, I served in the Army National Guard and Air Force, drove truck, ran heavy equipment, and volunteered as a firefighter and EMT — which is what pointed me toward nursing in the first place. I got my BSN from the University of Iowa in 2002 and have been a nurse ever since.

Outside the hospital, Dinah and I travel as much as we can, especially through the Caribbean — chasing sunrises, sunsets, and anything interesting. That's where the photography comes from, and the coloring book grew out of the same trips, turned into something simple enough for a kid to color.

Different projects, same instinct: pay attention, and make something useful out of it.

— Tim