Temporary Shower

These last 3 weeks have been a whirlwind of activities. I went to Hawaii first with Dave and we had an amazing time. We were on the island of Kauai and we stayed in a resort the entire time. This allowed us to just drive around in our rental car to different areas of the island. On the first day, we went to Costco and got food (cause we are cheap like that). Then we just explored the area around our hotel. On the second day, we ended up exploring the East Shore. We went on a hike, hung out at the beach, and retired early for an early start the next day. In the subsequent week, we explored the island by boat (catamaran into the ocean), my river kayak, and by foot (lots of hiking). It was amazing and Dave as always made the trip super fun. I didn’t really want to leave Hawaii but I had a two hour layover in SLC before meeting up with Varsha. We spent one week all over Morocco starting out in Fes, then Chefchauouen, Merazouga, and finally Marrakech. I had lot

Ah! The last week has been a whirlwind! Thanksgiving was wonderful. Dave and I spend it with my family and my dad cooked a feast. We had 2 of my parent’s friends over and their relatives. After everyone stuffed themselves on chinese food, we had fruit tarts and chocholate cake. Then, Dave, Lilly, my mom, and I played Sequence while Felicia drew. In our family, Sequence has become a board game staple. We tried other (non luck based) games but my mom is brilliant and she always won so we decided we would rather use sheer luck then our brains. Anyways, after three rounds of sequence, we did decide to try Clue. This is a game we haven’t touched in years because of said mom winnings but in the holiday spirit, we gave it a go. I won the first round by sheer luck (literally my first guess). Then, to our surprise, Lilly beat mom….guess we will be playing Clue again after all! On Friday while most people went black Friday shopping (why is it black?), Dave and I woke up early to

So….I submitted my first paper last week and I haven’t heard anything yet! In the research world, this is good news because the sooner you hear, the more likely it is a rejection. I am super excited because I am proud of the paper and I am anxious to get a publication. I am also excited because this week is a sort week! We are spending Thanksgiving with my family but the day after with Dave’s family. Being Asian, we don’t really buy into the pilgrim vs indian thing and hence, we will NOT be having turkey. I am fine with this because I don’t really like turkey anyways (except in deli sandwiches). Heck I don’t even like stuffing. Instead, my dad is making duck, tiger-eye meat balls (meat wrapped around egg so when you cut into it, it looks like a tiger eye), and other yummy chinese foods. Dave’s family is doing hot pot. OK…not much else is happening so I’m going to go be thankful about life in general :) Happy Thanksgiving!!!

The past week has been stressful but uneventful. Stressful because I had to give lab meeting to basically two labs. I had an early Thursday morning pow-wow with Andy to talk about my megakaryocyte project. We will be submitting my paper soon and he wanted to hear what paper(s) I will be working on next. The meeting was fine except I feel more stressed since there is more I have to do. My lab meeting to my own lab was equally stressful. All I can say is that it sucks when your PI is not excited about your project…. This weekend was fairly uneventful too. I had to work and teach Wilderness Medicine . I haven’t taught for the SLC WFA for a while now because my schedule hasn’t allowed me the flexibility to do so but there was a two-day course this past weekend and I double-teamed it with another instructor. It was a good time. I feel that we have put forth some new responders who will be capable of treating basic emergencies like fractures, head trauma, and allergic reactions. I also

I went to Jennie’s Memorial this past Saturday. I flew into Denver in the morning and flew out the same day. It was sad but good for me because I think what Jennie would have wanted is for me to think of her and feel encouraged. Her death has put everything into perspective. I mourn a great friend but I carry with me her desire to make each person feel special, loved, and most of all memorable in the face of all that can happen. One person who I hope knows I feel this way is my boyfriend. I haven’t talked about him much but I think I am ready to. First, I think I haven’t talked much about him to anyone because I am scared. I haven’t loved anyone in the same way and I’ve been living in fear that all this is setting me up for more heartbreak. However, in light of recent events, I’ve decided to jump in with both feet. It isn’t like the guy has ever made me doubt his love. Rather, he has been there for me in a kind of quiet sincerity I’ve never encountered. I feel equal and respected

I went to a free screening of the documentary " Life According to Sam"  today and this is just my reflection. First, I've been meaning to see this film since I first missed it at Sundance last year. I knew the premise but after hearing the NPR interview with the producers and Sam's mom, I knew I had to see it. The film is about a boy (Sam) who has progeria (a rare genetic disease that accelerates the aging process). When Sam was first diagnosed 15 years ago, his parents (two doctors themselves) were told that he would have about 13 years of life. There was no ongoing research into the disease since it was so rare and there were no drug treatments specifically for this disease. Instead of accepting the situation, Sam's parents decided to do something about it. They organized a progeria foundation, raised millions of dollars, and his mom (and MD/PhD) started researching drugs to treat the disease. They successfully performed a clinical trail and are now applyi

Things can change rather quickly as the past week revealed. I thought I was going to camp down in zion and do angel's landing + subway with 8 friends but only 5 of us were able to go. Most people canceled the night before. I hate when people do that. Unless some big emergency comes up, I think people should at least have the decency to cancel early. But that aside, I was really looking forward to the trip because fall in Zions is one of my favorite things. However, since this post is about change...I got a sore throat friday and woke up sick saturday. Did I still go? yes...but hiking was kind of miserable. I had one of my worst camping experiences saturday night because my throat hurt, my lungs were all congested, and I could not sleep through the night. Poor bf...I woke him up twice and he had to carry medicine for me all weekend. Then I got back and got even sicker! I didn't go to work yesterday. Instead, I slept the whole day and woke up exhausted! I am constantly amaze

Fall. This is a time when leaves fall and sure it is pretty but lately, I can’t stop thinking about how dead they are…how there is a time to live and a time to die. My friend Jennie died last Thursday. She had Li Fraumeni Syndrome which is a rare mutation of the P53 gatekeeping gene. This means that she got recurrent cancers…three to be exact before she passed. Jennie and I met in College. She was a vivacious freshmen when I was a Junior. I first saw her walking into my BacMD class with her cane and I wondered what was wrong with her. I thought perhaps an accident….a temporary blemish on her beauty but her cane didn’t go away. When I found out she was my resident (I was an RA that year), I couldn’t wait to pry into her life. Yes, it is wrong to be so nosy but Jennie had a magnetic personality. She was un-abashing about her cancer and demanding of your love. One of the first things she told me as her RA was how many canes she had and how each butterfly on her cane repres