Viruses have spent the weekend visiting my Philadelphia-based family members and acquaintances. My brother and his wife each tested positive for COVID-19 this weekend, shortly after two of their adult daughters recovered from their infections. Meanwhile, our oldest son’s family has spent the weekend suffering from some form of gastroenteritis. We have been planning to visit our son’s family this coming weekend to celebrate a few birthdays, but of course that will now depend on their health. While their infections are likely to be no more than inconveniences in the larger scheme of things, one of our Philly acquaintances, a 78-year-old man with longstanding diabetes (but doing well at the time) contracted COVID a couple of weeks ago, and then rapidly deteriorated and succumbed to viral pneumonia. So, it continues. And to think that I decided that infectious diseases would not be a good career choice for me because all the tough challenges had been met and conquered. Nostradamus can continue to rest easy …
Some combination of us is still hoping to watch the Super Bowl together next weekend. It will be only the fifth time in my life when the Eagles have played for a championship. It should be an exciting game. I attended the 2018 Super Bowl with our youngest son, David; it was a thrilling and cathartic experience when the Eagles won their first Super Bowl. I hope Sunday marks a second win, and this time I hope to share the moment around a TV.
On the work front, not a lot to report, except that several of my longtime patients are in challenging moments of their cancer journeys. One of them, a man in his 40s, will be meeting a hospice team this week. This is a sad and persistent part of being an oncologist, and even after all these years, it doesn’t get easier. Every time I get excited about all the progress being made in the field, one of my patients reminds me that so much work remains to be done.
This will be a big week. I’ll be providing the Georgetown Committee on Medical Center Affairs (COMCA) with an update on our CCSG readiness on Wednesday. On the same day a small group of us will be meeting with the NCI Centers Program leadership and staff for our CCSG pre-application meeting, where I will also provide an update and get their feedback. We expect to receive their formal approval to proceed with our competitive renewal. It is a bit of a formality, but as you can expect, it requires a lot of preparation!
Stay safe and be well.
Lou
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