Wow! Time flies. I didn't realize how long it had been since I last updated our Raff blog. Now I've given myself a real challenge to decide what I need to write about since my last entry. So many summer activities I should have been telling you about!
The photo of Gil was taken at Beaumont to accompany the e-version of a landmark paper that's coming out in JACC (Journal of the American College of Cardiology) this month. His team at Beaumont has worked tirelessly to get the manuscript published and it's due out in its electronic version on September 13, 2011. (He's looking like the picture of health, isn't he?)
The next photo is of Willow who was enjoying her afternoon ritual of frisbee play with me. She's adorable and as I've shared with many of you, she is still rather "small" for a border collie -- Gil calls her our "teacup" border collie!
Jamie, our 12-year old border collie, was diagnosed with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia on some routine blood work recently. Since we found it early in its course, we're having her followed by a veterinarian oncologist who will advise if and when any treatment is required. Jamie is more active and happier than I have ever seen her although she is getting gray and moves more slowly these days. She can easily go on daily 3-mile walks with Willow and me so she's still got energy and stamina.
The third picture is of Marika's new apartment in Ann Arbor. She and a dear girlfriend moved in the beginning of September. Marika is working about 2 miles away at the U-M Medical Center doing research with patients in the ER who acquire Staph infections. She's happy to be back in Ann Arbor but I can see she is having to make an adjustment to Michigan's weather and midwest approach to life. She clearly brought a lot of California attitude back with her which she is tightly holding onto.
Evan is coming to Ann Arbor to do a clerkship at U-M in radiology for the month of October. Glad to be able to have him "home" for a few weeks. Can't wait to have Marika and Evan over to the house in Milford for Sunday night dinners. Isn't it every mom's dream to cook for her kids again?
Laura and Adam are busy working and loving and walking Bodhi and enjoying their favorite parts of LA. They are the "loving couple" that Evan and Marika aspire to find for themselves.
Marika and I are in Pittsburgh today for her medical school interview at the University of Pittsburgh. (She has already had her interview at U-M.) Since we're only a short distance from Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater, we're going to swing by there on Sunday for a tour. (Gil and I were there last year, and we loved it, and I had hoped that all our kids would be able to some day get there and see it. Little did I realize that Marika and I would be out here so soon and so close to the site. Lucky her!)
I've been struggling health wise recently and am undergoing a diagnostic workup for Cushing's syndrome. (I have a documented adrenal adenoma we've been watching for a couple of years.) I've had many of the syndrome's symptoms for the past six months and am near the end of the testing algorithm hoping to get an accurate diagnosis from my endocrinologist and formulate a treatment plan. I'll hope to update you in the next blog entry.
In the meantime, summer is on its way out. Fall, one of my favorite seasons, is on its way in.
Haiku
Catching the next wave
Taking our life by the reins
We ride out our dreams.
