It's true.
I forgot I have a blog.
It appears this thing has been collecting dust for about 9 months. Woops? Maybe I can blame my inactivity on the Minnesota winter somehow, which seems to last about that long. In that regard, this blog has a lot in common with my grill, my shorts, my sandals, and my lawn mower.
What I definitely cannot claim is a lack of things to write about! Life has been a whirlwind since I last posted here and it's become clear to me over the past couple weeks that I've done a horrible job of keeping people important to me informed. It's easy for me to self-inflict a lot of business, and sometimes this business keeps me from the people and things that matter most. A constant struggle for me.
Anyway, I should say from the outset that I am doing well and that Beth and I feel fortunate and blessed to be exactly where we are. My health is pretty stable. The prolonged steroid use has done what prolonged steroid use does. I had a cataract removed from my left eye a couple weeks ago and will have the other eye fixed in June. Sometimes I feel like an old man but, overall, things are good.
I was recently promoted to "Research Associate" which means I'm now holding down the first real job of my life, and I love it. I work with great people and have had outstanding opportunities here. My first "major" publication will hit the presses in a couple days. It is a study I did to identify strategies to reduce hospital readmissions. I also recently completed a study of resiliency training programs and am thinking about the factors that allow individuals and communities to bounce back from the stresses and challenges of life. I am partnering with some people at Mayo to train patients to self-manage their chronic diseases and with some folks in the community to think about how one might build resilience at that level. I am in my last quarter of Master's courses and have developed skills and experience in biostatistics, secondary data analysis and meta-analytic methodologies, survey methods, the conduct of clinical trials, the practice of evidence-based medicine, qualitative methods, and dissemination and implementation research, among other things. It's all fun for me, really, but my focus is shifting mostly in the direction of dissemination and implementation of effective health interventions. I have some large scale projects on the docket which will require a good amount of traveling, but this kind of work appeases my curious nature and I'm excited to get started.
Speaking of traveling, I'll be in Miami all week for a conference presenting some of the work we've been doing in relation to communication in cancer. I will then return to celebrate two years of marriage. Beth will be traveling with me to San Diego in June where I will be presenting my readmissions work. The real vacation comes in July, though, when we take a 7 day Alaskan cruise! We can't wait.
When I'm not working or taking classes, it seems like I'm at church. Beth and I have a great community here. I sing in the choir and help with worship occasionally. Beth is really active with the children's ministry and is getting involved in a ministry for teen moms. We still have small group every Wednesday night and benefit so much from those relationships.
Okay. That's it in a nutshell. Will hopefully come up with something more substantive in the near future.
Oh! And a very Happy Mothers' Day to all moms, but especially mine.
God bless,
Aaron
Saturday, May 10, 2014
Sunday, August 25, 2013
The Good with The Bad
Yesterday was a rough day.
I received word in the morning that a family friend (who I suspect was about 20 years old) was killed serving in Afghanistan. Although I've been aware in principle of the fact that people are giving their lives for this country on a regular basis, this is easily the closest to home this truth has hit for me. My heart aches for the family, whom I know well.
Beth had been out of town this weekend at the wedding of one of her friends from college. She called yesterday evening to inform me of a change of plans; she needed to help drive another friend that had been attending back to Missouri. This particular friend had just received a call alerting her that her father had unexpectedly died of a massive heart attack. He was 55.
Now, I suppose I tend to think of myself as someone who has been graced with more discernment than average when it comes to coping with difficult situations like these and that I am also usually pretty good about seeking an eternal perspective and resting in the peace that comes with that. But not today. Maybe that will come, but right now I have no strength or wisdom to offer; I feel completely inadequate. I suspect there are two possible explanations for this: either (1) I am simply not in an appropriate place spiritually to know God's purpose in what has occurred or that (2) I am simply responding as the emotional, weak, and inadequate creature that I am.
In this case, there's probably truth to both explanations, but I think it raises an interesting question about the responsibility or usefulness of the Church in these sorts of situations.
There may not be a more painful experience in life than losing a child, but losing a parent before his or her time would follow somewhere close. Fortunately, in both of these cases, the individuals lost were believers. Of course, this still leaves behind two grieving families that the Church can and should reach out to in what I believe are two main ways. The first is through support (i.e. that we should offer hope, wisdom, understanding, encouragement, etc in so much as we are able). And the second, which I think we may overlook at times, is through participation. In scripture, we're told to share each other's burdens, to come along side one another and to mourn with those who mourn. There is something God-ordained about this type of activity that allows us to tap in to the maximal amount of good that can come from something bad. I think God wants all of us to grow in and through the experiences of one another. The truly amazing thing is that He's created a system (the Church) that actually permits this. The Church is supposed to be an intimate community of brothers and sisters; it's supposed to be united, to be and behave as one body. When it manifests as intended, it permits the corporate sharing of life's ups and downs with one another and ultimately reflects the love and intimacy that Christ has with us, which glorifies Him.
I'm certain the families of those lost yesterday are feeling inadequate, but maybe my feelings of inadequacy aren't entirely inappropriate. Rather, perhaps I honor their suffering and their loved ones by sharing in their pain and letting God extend its impact to my life, by letting God accomplish the maximum amount of good from this.
The Church is not as unified or as intimate as it should be, and that is just a reflection of our culture. I think God designed us to be more tightly and genuinely connected (facebook friends was not in the original plan) so that we really could be enacted upon, sharpened, and shaped as a single entity. Think about the impact that sort of reality would generate.
======================================================================
Anyway, in an effort to be efficient....let me switch gears and give an update on what Beth and I've been up to:
The hospital ministry has been more rewarding for us, I'm sure, than for anyone we've reached out to. We feel God's pleasure with it but are struggling to get "referrals." The bright spot in yesterday's gloom was the discharge of a friend with renal cell cancer. She was able to have her tumor completely taken out and I believe she should be completely cured! It was a pleasure getting to know her and her family.
Beth has to go back to school tomorrow (who's going to do all the chores around the house?!) although the kids don't actually show up until after Labor Day. I will miss having her at home. Hopefully some day I'll get a job where she doesn't have to work if she doesn't want to.
Research is going well and I love what I do and the people I work with. Truly blessed to stumble into what I'm doing. Classes are also going well but the sum of a full time job and being a full time student keeps me busier than I probably should be at times. Trying to work on a healthy balance here as the pain is mostly self-inflicted! If you're interested in thinking about the science and theory of healthcare delivery, you can read my blog post here.
And, as far as my health, it's ups and downs always. Great days alternate with not so great ones. Nothing really specific to report but prayers are always welcome. I will try to get a post up soon about the fact that I'm now 2 years post-transplant!
all for now.
I received word in the morning that a family friend (who I suspect was about 20 years old) was killed serving in Afghanistan. Although I've been aware in principle of the fact that people are giving their lives for this country on a regular basis, this is easily the closest to home this truth has hit for me. My heart aches for the family, whom I know well.
Beth had been out of town this weekend at the wedding of one of her friends from college. She called yesterday evening to inform me of a change of plans; she needed to help drive another friend that had been attending back to Missouri. This particular friend had just received a call alerting her that her father had unexpectedly died of a massive heart attack. He was 55.
Now, I suppose I tend to think of myself as someone who has been graced with more discernment than average when it comes to coping with difficult situations like these and that I am also usually pretty good about seeking an eternal perspective and resting in the peace that comes with that. But not today. Maybe that will come, but right now I have no strength or wisdom to offer; I feel completely inadequate. I suspect there are two possible explanations for this: either (1) I am simply not in an appropriate place spiritually to know God's purpose in what has occurred or that (2) I am simply responding as the emotional, weak, and inadequate creature that I am.
In this case, there's probably truth to both explanations, but I think it raises an interesting question about the responsibility or usefulness of the Church in these sorts of situations.
There may not be a more painful experience in life than losing a child, but losing a parent before his or her time would follow somewhere close. Fortunately, in both of these cases, the individuals lost were believers. Of course, this still leaves behind two grieving families that the Church can and should reach out to in what I believe are two main ways. The first is through support (i.e. that we should offer hope, wisdom, understanding, encouragement, etc in so much as we are able). And the second, which I think we may overlook at times, is through participation. In scripture, we're told to share each other's burdens, to come along side one another and to mourn with those who mourn. There is something God-ordained about this type of activity that allows us to tap in to the maximal amount of good that can come from something bad. I think God wants all of us to grow in and through the experiences of one another. The truly amazing thing is that He's created a system (the Church) that actually permits this. The Church is supposed to be an intimate community of brothers and sisters; it's supposed to be united, to be and behave as one body. When it manifests as intended, it permits the corporate sharing of life's ups and downs with one another and ultimately reflects the love and intimacy that Christ has with us, which glorifies Him.
I'm certain the families of those lost yesterday are feeling inadequate, but maybe my feelings of inadequacy aren't entirely inappropriate. Rather, perhaps I honor their suffering and their loved ones by sharing in their pain and letting God extend its impact to my life, by letting God accomplish the maximum amount of good from this.
The Church is not as unified or as intimate as it should be, and that is just a reflection of our culture. I think God designed us to be more tightly and genuinely connected (facebook friends was not in the original plan) so that we really could be enacted upon, sharpened, and shaped as a single entity. Think about the impact that sort of reality would generate.
======================================================================
Anyway, in an effort to be efficient....let me switch gears and give an update on what Beth and I've been up to:
The hospital ministry has been more rewarding for us, I'm sure, than for anyone we've reached out to. We feel God's pleasure with it but are struggling to get "referrals." The bright spot in yesterday's gloom was the discharge of a friend with renal cell cancer. She was able to have her tumor completely taken out and I believe she should be completely cured! It was a pleasure getting to know her and her family.
Beth has to go back to school tomorrow (who's going to do all the chores around the house?!) although the kids don't actually show up until after Labor Day. I will miss having her at home. Hopefully some day I'll get a job where she doesn't have to work if she doesn't want to.
Research is going well and I love what I do and the people I work with. Truly blessed to stumble into what I'm doing. Classes are also going well but the sum of a full time job and being a full time student keeps me busier than I probably should be at times. Trying to work on a healthy balance here as the pain is mostly self-inflicted! If you're interested in thinking about the science and theory of healthcare delivery, you can read my blog post here.
And, as far as my health, it's ups and downs always. Great days alternate with not so great ones. Nothing really specific to report but prayers are always welcome. I will try to get a post up soon about the fact that I'm now 2 years post-transplant!
all for now.
Monday, July 22, 2013
Healthcare That Fits
As part of my research focus, I spend a lot of time thinking about healthcare and what its purpose is. It seems to me that healthcare (and therefore health itself) is only useful insofar as it generates happiness. If being healthy (or making someone else "healthy") doesn't translate into any measurable form of improvement in the experience of life, then it doesn't really accomplish anything meaningful. Now, there are certainly situations where "enduring" good health or its necessary treatments or lifestyle changes may not bring immediate enjoyment...but, often these sorts of interventions permit the sorts of results patients want in the future--the ability to play with your grandkids, the opportunity to walk your daughter down the aisle, etc. Distinguishing these cases and indications is essential, and carefully weighing the evidence of what is and is not likely to have desired effects is central to the practice of high-quality care. Determining what fits who is one of the biggest challenges in healthcare, and it requires intimate understanding of what it is that makes our patients tick.
Americans spend more money on healthcare than anyone else in the world, but we aren't the happiest people in the world (not even by a long shot). Then again, we aren't the healthiest either. Somewhere something is getting lost in translation. Medicine doesn't fit people like it's supposed to. I think part of this stems from the fact that healthcare is slowly losing sight of its purpose.
According to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, healthcare is a "service-providing" industry. Sometimes it seems more "goods-producing." We do not often think about health services as a resource designed to meet our needs and life desires. Who thinks of their physician in the same way they think about their auto mechanic or their hair stylist? And yet, healthcare, like these other service industries, exists to meet the needs of its consumers (i.e. the patients). But I think anyone would balk at the suggestion that their mechanic could impose whatever repairs he sees fit or that their hair stylist could simply choose a haircut that matches his or her taste without even considering the preferences of the one forced to wear it!
Minimally disruptive medicine (minimallydisruptivemedicine.org) is one part of the solution to this problem, as it strives to remove unnecessary and useless care that only adds to patient burden. It also seeks to maximize patient capacity to be well, such that simply being a patient is not the end in itself, but is a means to an end that brings value to a patient's life.
I have become increasingly familiar with the role of health or wellness coaches (and, more broadly, life coaches) can play in helping to achieve these goals. In many cases, the sort of holistic evaluation and approach to well-being that coaching can provide is of far more value than any diagnostic test or intervention traditional medicine can offer.
Case in point. My grandpa has had a number of health issues develop over the last decade or so. His prescriptions and various medical appointments and evaluations help to bring some degree of health benefit, but they do not bring happiness or any value in regards to his quality of life. Thanks to the accurate perception of concerned family members, however, he was given a couple dogs that have absolutely changed his outlook on life. They've brought meaning, joy, and purpose to his life in a way that traditional medicine never could. Identifying the things that bring meaning to patients' lives is essential to achieving the outcomes we desire. I am excited to think about this more seriously and generate more formal approaches to this type of patient assessment. I am interested in people's thoughts.
Americans spend more money on healthcare than anyone else in the world, but we aren't the happiest people in the world (not even by a long shot). Then again, we aren't the healthiest either. Somewhere something is getting lost in translation. Medicine doesn't fit people like it's supposed to. I think part of this stems from the fact that healthcare is slowly losing sight of its purpose.
According to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, healthcare is a "service-providing" industry. Sometimes it seems more "goods-producing." We do not often think about health services as a resource designed to meet our needs and life desires. Who thinks of their physician in the same way they think about their auto mechanic or their hair stylist? And yet, healthcare, like these other service industries, exists to meet the needs of its consumers (i.e. the patients). But I think anyone would balk at the suggestion that their mechanic could impose whatever repairs he sees fit or that their hair stylist could simply choose a haircut that matches his or her taste without even considering the preferences of the one forced to wear it!
Minimally disruptive medicine (minimallydisruptivemedicine.org) is one part of the solution to this problem, as it strives to remove unnecessary and useless care that only adds to patient burden. It also seeks to maximize patient capacity to be well, such that simply being a patient is not the end in itself, but is a means to an end that brings value to a patient's life.
I have become increasingly familiar with the role of health or wellness coaches (and, more broadly, life coaches) can play in helping to achieve these goals. In many cases, the sort of holistic evaluation and approach to well-being that coaching can provide is of far more value than any diagnostic test or intervention traditional medicine can offer.
Case in point. My grandpa has had a number of health issues develop over the last decade or so. His prescriptions and various medical appointments and evaluations help to bring some degree of health benefit, but they do not bring happiness or any value in regards to his quality of life. Thanks to the accurate perception of concerned family members, however, he was given a couple dogs that have absolutely changed his outlook on life. They've brought meaning, joy, and purpose to his life in a way that traditional medicine never could. Identifying the things that bring meaning to patients' lives is essential to achieving the outcomes we desire. I am excited to think about this more seriously and generate more formal approaches to this type of patient assessment. I am interested in people's thoughts.
Thursday, July 4, 2013
Hospital-I.T.Y. (Synopsis)
Here's the rationale for Beth and I's new hospital ministry: (copied and pasted from our ministry proposal)
The
inspiration for this ministry comes from our understanding of God’s special
love for the sick and the hurting.
From Isaiah 61, we know that one of the evidences of God’s Kingdom on
earth is the binding up of the broken-hearted. This fallen world is full of hurting people, and just as
Jesus sought them out and restored them in His ministry, we are called to do our
part to “restore our broken world” and show God’s love to those that need it
most.
This ministry has two general purposes. The first purpose is to show God’s love through Christian
hospitality, especially to patients and families that are visiting Rochester
from afar and are separated from their normal support system. This may include anything from a
friendly chat to a home-cooked meal to a parking spot to a spare room,
depending on the situation. The
second purpose is to provide spiritual support and understanding to those that
desire it. This will depend on the
situation and on interest but can include everything from a short prayer, to a
listening ear, to a formal family support group and weekly devotional.
We believe this ministry fits with the CCC DNA and the church mission in
obvious and important ways. We
believe all Christians are called to reach out beyond the walls of the church
building, to love in radical ways, and to make the gospel of Jesus Christ
attractive to our broken world. We
believe this ministry can restore people while bringing glory to God and
declaring the presence of His kingdom.
1.
Who is the intended audience for this project?
We believe that the patient’s primary source of comfort and support often
comes from his or her family and medical providers, assuming these people are
present and that the dynamics are functional (as is the case in most Christian
families). In these cases, our
primary focus will often be on the families, who are frequently hurting as much
or more than the patient but (especially when coming from afar) lack necessary
support, feel lonely, and struggle with issues of understanding.
2.
Will you be recruiting a team of people and how
will they be selected?
We would be thrilled to welcome
anyone with a heart for the hurting into this ministry. Anyone could potentially play a role,
depending on his or her comfort levels and spiritual gifting. The size and scope of this ministry
will be directly proportional to the number of people who are interested in
serving in it. It would be nice to
have a registry of people willing to be contacted for hospitality reasons
(making a meal, offering a spare room, etc). People with clinical backgrounds are particularly
well-suited to make hospital visits without violating any rules or norms,
whereas people with the gift of teaching could take turns leading support
groups at each hospital, etc.
Basically, the bigger the team, the more people we can open our services
up to and, hopefully, the bigger the impact. There are numerous resources on hospital ministry that can
be made available to anyone interested.
A training workshop would likely be in order for those particularly
interested in bedside hospital ministry.
3.
What is the process for ministry
engagement? Timeline?
This ministry can begin effective
immediately. At this stage, it is
only the two of us, so we simply can’t open up our services to every patient
and family in Rochester, as much as we’d like to. It makes the most sense, currently, for CCC to refer
patients and families that they are aware of to our ministry. Depending on the level of ministry involvement
and the closeness of the patient relationship, it is reasonable for each
ministry team member (couples counting as 1) to carry a “case load” of 1 to 3
patients. If the ministry really
takes off, we would like to make the Mayo chaplains aware of us so that they
can refer appropriate patients and families as well. Perhaps by summer 2013, it would be nice to start up a
family support group that meets within the hospital. This can be advertised within hospital chapels. Because the hospital population is
constantly overturning, these meetings can be a recurring devotional and
discussion of 3-4 topics (worry/uncertainty, suffering, comfort, etc).
4.
How will success be measured upon ministry
completion?
We will always have the sick, so
it’s hard to imagine this ministry reaching a state of completion. If this ministry is truly led by the
Spirit and is consistent with God’s heart for our community, then we should
expect spiritual results. I would
hope, as it has been our experience, that the ministering will gain as much
comfort and insight from this ministry as those being ministered to.
Monday, July 1, 2013
Update: July 1, 2013
Let's try to get everyone up to speed with what's been going on with me over the last few months:
Work/Research: A lot to report here. I'm starting to find my groove in health services research. I mostly focus on figuring out ways to make healthcare make more sense. My unit works on erasing the disconnect between patients and their clinicians. I try to make health fit the goals of the patient and empower patients to accept nothing less. This means I study a lot of things, but especially the way patients and clinicians communicate. I'm looking at this critically right now in the context of communication with cancer physicians and studying the concept of "shared decision making." Beth and I just returned from a conference in Peru where I was able to sharpen my understanding of this better. You can watch some great keynotes about this here: http://isdm2013.org/video-archive/
My mentor, @vmontori, is promoting a concept called "minimally disruptive medicine." I will be blogging about that some here...and some here: http://minimallydisruptivemedicine.org/ You can also follow my musings on this and other things on twitter @aaronleppinmd I start my Master's classes officially next week.
Life/Health: Things are about as good as can be expected. The GVH left my gut and moved to my lungs. It got pretty bad there for a bit and I spent a few days in the hospital. My lungs took a bit of a permanent hit and I probably won't ever run a marathon, but with the help of some high dose steroids I'm breathing pretty comfortably now. I'm well enough to work at least and well enough to enjoy a trip to Peru. Beth and I were able to go paragliding, take in some Peruvian cuisine, and have a wonderful time on the beautiful Pacific coast. My lung capacity precluded a trip to Machu Pichu but it was a blast regardless. We also celebrated a year of marriage about a month and a half ago. Beth also completed her first year of teaching and is enjoying her first summer vacation!
Purpose/Ministry: A fair amount on this front as well. Beth and I completed a course at our church to identify our spiritual gifts, talents, and heart tendencies. Ultimately, we felt God's leading to start a hospital ministry directed toward helping patients and their families deal with the adjustment of serious illness. On the most basic level, we want to provide Christian hospitality and support, especially to folks traveling to Rochester from afar for care. We also want to provide spiritual direction and understanding as much as one might desire this. We are approaching it humbly and with willing hearts; we feel God has given us a lot to draw on here. I will try to post updates related to this ministry that will be encouraging. We're calling it "Hospital-I.T.Y." (Intent on Trusting You).
Okay, that's the skinny. Keep posted, friends.
Work/Research: A lot to report here. I'm starting to find my groove in health services research. I mostly focus on figuring out ways to make healthcare make more sense. My unit works on erasing the disconnect between patients and their clinicians. I try to make health fit the goals of the patient and empower patients to accept nothing less. This means I study a lot of things, but especially the way patients and clinicians communicate. I'm looking at this critically right now in the context of communication with cancer physicians and studying the concept of "shared decision making." Beth and I just returned from a conference in Peru where I was able to sharpen my understanding of this better. You can watch some great keynotes about this here: http://isdm2013.org/video-archive/
My mentor, @vmontori, is promoting a concept called "minimally disruptive medicine." I will be blogging about that some here...and some here: http://minimallydisruptivemedicine.org/ You can also follow my musings on this and other things on twitter @aaronleppinmd I start my Master's classes officially next week.
Life/Health: Things are about as good as can be expected. The GVH left my gut and moved to my lungs. It got pretty bad there for a bit and I spent a few days in the hospital. My lungs took a bit of a permanent hit and I probably won't ever run a marathon, but with the help of some high dose steroids I'm breathing pretty comfortably now. I'm well enough to work at least and well enough to enjoy a trip to Peru. Beth and I were able to go paragliding, take in some Peruvian cuisine, and have a wonderful time on the beautiful Pacific coast. My lung capacity precluded a trip to Machu Pichu but it was a blast regardless. We also celebrated a year of marriage about a month and a half ago. Beth also completed her first year of teaching and is enjoying her first summer vacation!
Purpose/Ministry: A fair amount on this front as well. Beth and I completed a course at our church to identify our spiritual gifts, talents, and heart tendencies. Ultimately, we felt God's leading to start a hospital ministry directed toward helping patients and their families deal with the adjustment of serious illness. On the most basic level, we want to provide Christian hospitality and support, especially to folks traveling to Rochester from afar for care. We also want to provide spiritual direction and understanding as much as one might desire this. We are approaching it humbly and with willing hearts; we feel God has given us a lot to draw on here. I will try to post updates related to this ministry that will be encouraging. We're calling it "Hospital-I.T.Y." (Intent on Trusting You).
Okay, that's the skinny. Keep posted, friends.
Sunday, June 30, 2013
Back in the Saddle
Okay...it's been like...forever.
I'm going to get back into this. I need to. I have to develop my writing portfolio and I need a place to store my thoughts anyway.
You can catch me on twitter too...that's right...I'm going all in @aaronleppinmd
It turns out a social media presence is important for my career path and what-not. I need to be able to pump my research and communicate my agenda effectively. I'll be doing some of that here, or at least redirecting you to relevant blogs.
Will try to get updates out soon (although this is a busy time for me) related to my health, my job, and what God has been teaching me. Suffice is to say that things are good on all fronts.
All for now.
Aaron
I'm going to get back into this. I need to. I have to develop my writing portfolio and I need a place to store my thoughts anyway.
You can catch me on twitter too...that's right...I'm going all in @aaronleppinmd
It turns out a social media presence is important for my career path and what-not. I need to be able to pump my research and communicate my agenda effectively. I'll be doing some of that here, or at least redirecting you to relevant blogs.
Will try to get updates out soon (although this is a busy time for me) related to my health, my job, and what God has been teaching me. Suffice is to say that things are good on all fronts.
All for now.
Aaron
Thursday, March 14, 2013
No News is Good News
Okay, okay...so I've been really busy lately. But that's no excuse for a month without updates! I have to apologize, especially to the complete strangers that read these posts....I'm flattered by your interest and especially encouraged when you're in some way blessed. I'm still amazed to see multiple visits to this blog every day. I must thank all of you again for your prayers, without which none of the following would be possible.
But on to all the good news!
Firstly, I finished the foscarnet on March 5th. A couple days later the biopsies came back showing that the therapy had worked (I felt so much better I hardly saw how it couldn't have) and that I was free of any detectable CMV.
As the gut infection and inflammation subsided, my malabsorption issue also reversed course. This has allowed me to absorb the the thyroid medicine and vitamin D. I finally have the energy to put in a full day's work!
And it's a good thing, because that's exactly what I'm doing now. I officially started a postdoctoral research fellowship on February 25th here at Mayo. I love it. I have two outstanding mentors between whom I share my experiences and responsibilities--one heads up the Biomedical Ethics Research Unit, and the other the Knowledge and Evaluation Research Unit. I'm also planning on getting a Master's in clinical and translational research methods and I am excited for those classes to start. All in all, it amounts to what will be a very comprehensive and well-rounded education in health services methodology--not to mention the fact I've already booked conferences in Denver and Lima, Peru!
(For those that are interested, my research is currently focusing on assessments of communication quality between cancer patients and providers, the usage of some shared decision-making quality metrics, and on increasing the patient-centeredness of hospital transition processes.)
With my new job, though, I've been thinking a lot lately about ambition, career advancement, recognition, and the like. I've always sort of been an "achiever" and that can get me into trouble when it comes to maintaining balance (at least, it did in medical school). Sometimes I do things or accept challenges purely for the sake of showing myself or others that I can pull it off. Ecclesiastes 4:4 says "And I saw that all labor and all achievement spring from man's envy of his neighbor. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind."
Right now I'm pretty happy with what I'm doing and I know it's important for me to be working, but I'm sure the time will come when considerations of getting a PhD or going back to residency or getting a faculty position or heading up my own unit or center or whatever, etc will come into play. King Solomon's words won't be any less true then than they are now, but I bet they'll seem like it!
I have met a lot of people that have chosen to forego more money, more recognition, more respect, etc in a deliberate attempt to glorify God through the simplification and re-centering of their lives. I hope that the past couple years have taught me enough about life and what matters in it that the same might be said of me one day. I'm going to work to the extent that I enjoy it, that I'm able, and that it doesn't interfere with my primary purpose. There's a lot to be said about resting in the Lord and if any earthly pursuit is interfering with that opportunity, it needs to go. Allow me to recommend Dr. Matthew Sleeth's book, "24/6." It's about the value of the Sabbath (I actually haven't got to start it yet, but it's next in my "to read pile").
Currently Reading: "Proof of Heaven" by Dr. Eben Alexander and Hudson Taylor's autobiography; both are good, but I can't give a full review until I've finished them. And, although there are a lot of great books on how we should live our lives, nobody can touch Ecclesiastes (note: if you think it's depressing, then you don't get it).
Until next time,
Aaron
But on to all the good news!
Firstly, I finished the foscarnet on March 5th. A couple days later the biopsies came back showing that the therapy had worked (I felt so much better I hardly saw how it couldn't have) and that I was free of any detectable CMV.
As the gut infection and inflammation subsided, my malabsorption issue also reversed course. This has allowed me to absorb the the thyroid medicine and vitamin D. I finally have the energy to put in a full day's work!
And it's a good thing, because that's exactly what I'm doing now. I officially started a postdoctoral research fellowship on February 25th here at Mayo. I love it. I have two outstanding mentors between whom I share my experiences and responsibilities--one heads up the Biomedical Ethics Research Unit, and the other the Knowledge and Evaluation Research Unit. I'm also planning on getting a Master's in clinical and translational research methods and I am excited for those classes to start. All in all, it amounts to what will be a very comprehensive and well-rounded education in health services methodology--not to mention the fact I've already booked conferences in Denver and Lima, Peru!
(For those that are interested, my research is currently focusing on assessments of communication quality between cancer patients and providers, the usage of some shared decision-making quality metrics, and on increasing the patient-centeredness of hospital transition processes.)
With my new job, though, I've been thinking a lot lately about ambition, career advancement, recognition, and the like. I've always sort of been an "achiever" and that can get me into trouble when it comes to maintaining balance (at least, it did in medical school). Sometimes I do things or accept challenges purely for the sake of showing myself or others that I can pull it off. Ecclesiastes 4:4 says "And I saw that all labor and all achievement spring from man's envy of his neighbor. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind."
Right now I'm pretty happy with what I'm doing and I know it's important for me to be working, but I'm sure the time will come when considerations of getting a PhD or going back to residency or getting a faculty position or heading up my own unit or center or whatever, etc will come into play. King Solomon's words won't be any less true then than they are now, but I bet they'll seem like it!
I have met a lot of people that have chosen to forego more money, more recognition, more respect, etc in a deliberate attempt to glorify God through the simplification and re-centering of their lives. I hope that the past couple years have taught me enough about life and what matters in it that the same might be said of me one day. I'm going to work to the extent that I enjoy it, that I'm able, and that it doesn't interfere with my primary purpose. There's a lot to be said about resting in the Lord and if any earthly pursuit is interfering with that opportunity, it needs to go. Allow me to recommend Dr. Matthew Sleeth's book, "24/6." It's about the value of the Sabbath (I actually haven't got to start it yet, but it's next in my "to read pile").
Currently Reading: "Proof of Heaven" by Dr. Eben Alexander and Hudson Taylor's autobiography; both are good, but I can't give a full review until I've finished them. And, although there are a lot of great books on how we should live our lives, nobody can touch Ecclesiastes (note: if you think it's depressing, then you don't get it).
Until next time,
Aaron
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