Lesson Learned from Denver

I was in Denver last week for 3 days for a work meeting; it was mostly business with some soft skill development sprinkled in. The last session on our last day featured two patient ambassadors; patients who have participated in our clinical trials and speak about their experiences. One woman had rheumatoid arthritis while the other had been diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer.

I was so moved by what they shared and I find myself reflecting on their experiences. Both women at some point in their disease progression, were debilitated and could not do the simplest tasks including getting dressed, filling out paperwork or lifting an arm to an armrest for a blood draw. The woman who had breast cancer lost her hair, eyelashes, eyebrows, fingernails and toenails. I think about these women and what they had to go through, and I tell myself, "you see, things could be so much worse". As human beings we become mired in the "small stuff" and forget to see the big picture of our lives. Hearing these women speak reminded me that life is short and unpredictable. We have to be grateful every single day for the positive things in our lives because there are people in this world who are suffering far more than we are. And more importantly, we cannot take for granted the things we have. Maybe we don't have the newest car, the biggest house or the most fashionable clothes, but at least we can wake up each morning, stand on our own two feet, and go to our jobs. Anything else is just gravy!

Left our Hearts in Maui

We've been home from Maui for almost a month and we still miss it every day. From the beautiful sun-kissed beaches to the laid back lifestyle, it has been hard to come back to our crazy commutes, strict schedules and the race against time.

They say a picture says a thousand words, so here are some of our favorite pictures to tell the story of our wonderful vacation...