and i got pulled over one time for 'rolling' through a stop sign

and another time i got rear-ended by a car at a stop sign and flew up in the air flipping 180 degrees and landing on my head on the girl's hood, thanks helmet!

and i rode all year round, except the small number of times there was snow on the roads, and i would freeze in the winter

and i would take my recycling on it to the recycling center

and a 12 pack of diet coke would fit perfectly under the seat before there were the long and skinny boxes

and it would only cost $3 to fill up with premium gas and last a few weeks

and i sold it when i graduated vet school to a girl somewhere in kansas that planned to move to manhattan, ks and go to vet school. i wonder if she ever did and if my Vespa is still spotted around town. would be cool!

oh the memories

Looks like fun huh? So many cool dogs!

A little article about vets at the Iditarod

A ProMED-mail post http://www.promedmail.org ProMED-mail is a program of the International Society for Infectious Diseases http://www.isid.org

Date: Thu 17 Mar 2011 Source: Arizona Daily Star, Associated Press report [edited] http://azstarnet.com/news/national/article_4eb3f6bf-6a81-566b-8fe1-974e6f94afc2.html

Transplant patient got AIDS from new kidney

A transplant patient contracted AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) from the kidney of a living donor, in the 1st documented case of its kind in the U.S. since screening for HIV [human immunodeficiency virus] began in the mid-1980s. It turns out the donor had unprotected gay sex in the 11 weeks between the time he tested negative and the time the surgery took place in 2009.

In a report Thursday [17 Mar 2011] on the New York City case, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended that organ donors have repeat HIV tests a week before surgery. "The most sensitive test needs to be done as close as possible to the time of transplant," said Dr. Colin Shepard, who oversees tracking of HIV cases for the New York City Health Department. The CDC also said would-be organ donors should be told to avoid behavior that can increase their chances of infection. Living organ donors in the U.S. are routinely tested for infectious diseases such as hepatitis and HIV. But the organization that oversees organ transplants in the U.S. does not have an explicit policy on when such screening should be done. That's left up to transplant centers.

Because of patient confidentiality, health officials released few details about the donor, recipient, their relationship or the hospital where the transplant took place, except to say that it is in New York. Neither the donor nor the recipient knew he or she had HIV until about a year after the transplant, according to the CDC report. The recipient developed AIDS, perhaps because he or she was on drugs that suppress the immune system to prevent organ rejection, while the donor did not, health officials said. Both are receiving HIV treatment. Their conditions were not disclosed in the report.

"We don't know how frequently this is happening and we need better surveillance," said Dr. Matthew Kuehnert, a CDC official who co-wrote the report. HIV infections in a donor or recipient may not be discovered until long after a transplant, and even then, patients and their doctors may not make the connection and report it, health officials said. In this case, once health authorities were notified late last year [2010], they spent months investigating whether the transplanted kidney was the source of the patient's AIDS infection. Genetic analysis of the virus confirmed investigators' suspicions.

At least one similar U.S. case has been reported in the media. An Orlando,Florida, woman last year filed a lawsuit saying she was infected with HIV through a 2007 kidney transplant from a live donor in Florida. However, CDC officials said they have not been asked to investigate and could not confirm the report.

Before that, Italian doctors reported HIV transmission from a live organ donor in 1989. Since the 1980s, there has been a confirmed report of a deceased donor's organs spreading the AIDS virus. That happened in Illinois in 2007, when organs from a 38-year-old gay man went to 4 recipients.

For many years, transplant organizations focused heavily on screening organs taken from the dead, which accounted for the large majority of transplants. But kidneys from live donors are becoming increasingly common. In 1988, about 32 percent of kidney transplants came from live donors. By last year, it was more than 46 percent, according to federal data. Donors generally are relatives or friends.

About 88 000 people are on the kidney waiting list right now, according the United Network for Organ Sharing, a nonprofit organization that manages the nation's organ transplant system for the federal government. The group is developing new nationwide policies for live donors, spokesman Joel Newma said. Transplant centers have teams that evaluate potential donors and look for physical or psychological red flags.

But some would-be donors may find themselves in a quandary: They want to save a loved one's life but are unwilling to reveal that they use drugs, have gay sex or engage in other behavior that raises their risk of HIV. Some donors may assume they will be tested for every important kind of infection, and think it doesn't matter whether they disclose their risky behavior, Kuehnert said.

CDC officials recommend a HIV test developed in the 1990s that is more sensitive than traditional testing. The more sensitive test can detect HIV within 10 days after the person is 1st infected. An older test won't detect antibodies to HIV until 3 to 8 weeks after infection. Yet the older tests are more commonly done.

Started a real job at a pharmaceutical company in NJ.

My life is nothing like it used to be.

I spend more time than ever commuting, luckily by bus.

Trying to get used to life in NYC. Boston you are missed.

Spent most of 2010 focused on work and my specialty board exam, hardest test I've ever faced in a life full of tests.

Did a great job at work but failed the exam. Ugh!

I seem to have plenty of money to live and save so that's at least a big burden lifted. No credit card debt!! Just the $235,000 in student loans.

Gave up one of the most enjoyable things in life, running, because I couldn't do it all, or so I told myself. Have been fat and unhappy all year.

Life with the Bear is not what it used to be. I'm too unhappy and angry to deal with someone we isn't, plus I refuse to go out in public as a fat person.

Now 2011 is here. Work is still going great but no end to the stress in sight. It's very stressful and demanding but I love it, most of the time. It just seems when I'm not at work I'm wasting away doing nothing and it sucks. I hate being a loser for much of my time.

I joined the gym at work and started running again. I can do 3 miles slowly and will work on speed/distance from there. Continue to eat like a pig. Baby steps.

Unfortunately exam study time is running out. Exam is in 5 months and I really need to hit the books. What I've learned from those that have passed, you need to give up your life and only study to pass. Can I do it for the next 5 months? Honestly I don't think so but I can't get away from it.

What I'd like to do. Get up at 5:30 every day. Get to work at 7am. Work until 3:30 and then study until 5 or 5:30. Gym until 6:30, bus home at 7, home by 8, then dinner and more study or relax until bed at 9:30. It's very easy to write down but not at all easy for me to do. I try to tell myself I'll get used to it and it's only 5 months. I've done other things in life at least as hard, right? Why do I hate getting up early so much?

I don't think I can take another year of stressing about this stinkin' exam that in the grand scheme of things is not a requirement for anything I'll ever do. It's just that last thing I need to achieve for professional superstardom.

Maybe I'll start studying tomorrow, going to watch TV :0(

My friend Laura and old triathlon teammate from when I lived in Boston has a healthy food blog w/ recipes so I will try and take some tips from her. I got the Bear involved since he's my chef and needs to help get the food and prepare/cook it.

http://www.healthytastycheap.blogspot.com/

I was on Twitter and seeing what's up in the city today and there was mention of the New Amsterdam Market. It's supposed to be pretty good, not necessarily healthy eating, but I'd like to check it out. It's down by South St Seaport, back where I was last weekend to get the ferry to IKEA, so it'd take a bit to get there from Midtown. I'm on call this weekend so I'm not leaving my apt until at least 11am when my vet tech usually updates me on cases and goes home. So maybe around 11am I can think about it. Or maybe we can run down there at 11am and take the train home. That would be even better.

Love you Beaky!!