New Digs

In case you did not know, the AML genome was sequenced at Washington University in 2008:

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v456/n7218/abs/nature07485.html

Here is another link to Wash U Divisions of Hematology:

http://hematology.im.wustl.edu/

Of course these first few days are settling in days before chemo starts later this week. I am thinking of hats, scarves, and colorful wigs; the "make-over" possibilities are endless! I may even go for a limited edition Cardinals cap that supports cancer research here at the Siteman Cancer Center - sorry Cubs fans!

Architecture is meant to promote healing and the Barnes Medical Campus which includes Children's Hospital, the St Louis College of Pharmacy, the Washington University Medical School, and the BJC Institute of Health at Washington University School of Medicine is a fabulous example. The Siteman Cancer Center is beautiful and does make one feel hopeful just to walk around and peer up into the airy space and beautiful glass walls.

Maya Lin, who designed the Vietnam Veterans War Memorial, designed the Ellen S. Clark Hope Plaza which sits in the center of the campus. The Clark family donated the plaza to celebrate Ellen Clark's indomitable spirit. This is a photo of the plaza at night:

http://cdn.archdaily.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/1307719182-ellenclarkhopeplaza.jpg

The lilies in the pool and gardens around the plaza were designed by the Missouri Botanical Garden. There is also an inscription from an Emily Dickensen poem "Hope":

"Hope is the thing with feathers That perches in the soul, And sings the tune without the words, And never stops at all, And sweetest in the gale is heard; And sore must be the storm That could abash the little bird That kept so many warm.I've heard it in the chillest land, And on the strangest sea; Yet, never, in extremity, It asked a crumb of me."

So, until I start my chemo in a few days I can go out and about the plaza with my tell-tale patient wrist bands and yellow mask. It is a unique and pleasant environment inspiring the indomitable spirit within us all.  To learn more about the plaza: http://news.wustl.edu/news/Pages/20854.aspx

Now, if you turn left from the corner of the building, away from the direction of the plaza, you walk right into the Central West End.  The restaurants and bars are another wonderful asset within walking distance for care givers, family, and friends.  A nurse did say that after work one day she went to meet some friends at a restaurant and low and behold one of the patients from her floor was at the bar - in his gown!