It's been a good couple of weeks

So an update from my last post ... it looks like Joyce from Kenya is being considered for the Gift of Life program at Riley Hospital where they will fix heart defects for children from other countries (and provide for the expenses). We're also working on getting a plastic surgeon involved to repair her cleft lip/palate at the same time. I'm really excited because it should hopefully happen while I'm still working at Riley so I should get to see her while she's in Indy.

In other news, I've told a lot of people, but maybe not everyone, but I'm going to be moving to Denver in June to start a Genetics/Metabolism fellowship at The Children's Hospital which I'm excited about. Given the poor state of the market right now I put my house on the market when I left for Kenya and I just sold it last week! Not only that but 3 other units a lot like mine were on the market before mine was but mine sold first! I credit it all to watching a whole lot of HGTV and learning how to "stage" my house :) I didn't make as much money as I would have liked but I'm not going to have to bring any money to closing and will make a little bit of money when the mortgage is paid off. In this market, I look at that as a big plus. I'll be moving in with a fellow resident who has a spare bedroom for the rest of residency.

Finally this week, I traveled to Strasburg, PA (which is near Harrisburg) to meet with a group of researchers that I've been collaborating with on a genetics project involving the Amish community. The area that I visited in Pennsylvania is in Amish country out there as well. I stayed in this adorable bed and breakfaast which even had a fireplace in the bedroom I stayed in. I've decided that will be a must in my dream home someday so that I can get ready in the morning with a fire going :) I've been working with this group via email for the last 1.5 years so it was great to finally meet with them in person. Not only that but they had some great news ... they've identified the gene that causes the new syndrome we've described in this population! It's a big victory and I think the things we've learned about this syndrome are going to impact the types of treatment and screening we choose immediately. I love genetics but one of my biggest dislikes is how esoteric it often is but I feel like with this project we may actually be able to make a different in the quality of life for these families. Now it will be a whole lot more work writing this up and submitting it to a journal. I'm also going to get to present this work as a poster at the American College of Medical Genetics conference in Tampa, FL in March.