HEAVEN IS A PLACE ON EARTH... IN BARCELONA

I do not believe in God, but tonight I witnessed a piece of heaven on earth – an FC Barcelona match at the Camp Nou in Barcelona. I was seated in a prime viewing spot seven rows back from the players’ box at midfield, and no I will not be sharing how much the ticket cost!

The Camp Nou is the largest sports stadium in Europe, and it may well be the largest sports stadium in the world with a capacity of 100,000.  The stadium needs to be this big because countless hoards turn up for every home game to watch Messi and company work their magic. Tonight, was no different, and I witnessed the best sporting event – make that the best public event – of my semi-long life. 

First, the crowd was filled with people of all ages, races, and even genders.  Second, it was a decidedly family affair. A sweet little two-year old Catalan boy was perched on his mom’s lap next to me.  On my other side sat an older Catalan couple.  They seemed quite reserved… that is until the first goal.  After Messi put in the back of the net, the man turned to me and shouted, “Messi!”  I shook my head yes, and we smiled.  After Messi’s second goal, we high-fived, and I had made a new friend.

Despite the fact that we did not speak the same language, we clearly appreciated the masterpiece that was written by the Barca players on the pitch. The whole crowd appreciated that the players were not merely playing for them. These players were performing for the crowd, who witnessed football at its highest level. 

Ten of Barca’s starting eleven players came up through their youth academy, and so the club and the fans are almost like their family. One could feel sense the effusive pride with which these men played, and their love for the game was palpable and contagious.

However, I was struck most by the ease with which the Barca players played the game.  Nothing was forced. Everything was natural and well executed.  There was levity. There was skill. After the opposition Real Zaragoza tied the game, there was determination and Barca quickly regained the lead and did not look back.

Tonight was truly a night to remember.  I sent Nicholas live text updates during the game as he watched  home on TV.  I am sad Nicholas, Cate, and Kathleen could not be there tonight. Had they been with me, they would have witnessed something strange and unfamiliar in me – happiness and pure joy unlike anything in recent memory.

I will be back to the Camp Nou, and next time I will bring them along. Something as sweet as this time was meant to be shared, and I cannot think of anyone else with whom I would rather go to Heaven.

Visca Barca! 

P.S. Do not worry!  Once I get home, I will update this post and add pictures and videos!

THEN AND NOW IN BARCELONA

Tonight, I write from Barcelona. I was last here 14 years ago at the end of medical school in 1998.  Over the years, Barcelona has remained one of my favorite cities. Therefore, when the opportunity to present at an international meeting came up, I leaped at the chance. 

Much is the same in Barcelona- great food, great museums, friendly people, and beautiful women. However, as I wandered around town, I noticed a different mood in the city than the one I witnessed last time. There was a palpable sense of less hope, more dread, and more frustration. 

I witnessed all of these emotions yesterday as I walked the city on the day of the national work stoppage. People were striking due to austerity and the global economic downturn, and Spain has been particularly hard hit with employment around 25%.

I had thought that this was simply a transport strike, but I quickly realized the strike was more widespread when every destination I visited was shuttered.

Few people were mulling around in the morning, but they seemed more purposeful, more busy, and more serious than I remembered from my last visit.  Later, I noticed that crowds were gathering, and so were the police.  On the main drag called La Rambla, political signs adorned the lampposts. Some spoke of Catalan independence while others spoke of socialism without secession. The undercurrent of tension was to be found everywhere.

As I headed back to the hotel on foot, I noticed that the crowds had become considerably bigger and louder.  They were amassing in the city center in the Placa Cataluña.  There, I heard several loud explosions. Initially, I took them for gunfire or a bomb, but they turned out to be some form of firework.  Quickly, I headed in the opposite direction to my hotel.  I stayed in the remainder of the day and could not fathom how different this city that I love was on that day compared to my last visit.

It is true that it was a special day – a general strike. However, the city and the people of Barcelona were measurably different from 1998. It turns out that I, too, am different 14 years later. 

My last trip was all about pleasure and sight seeing at the end of four long years of medical school. This time, I am presenting at an international medical conference.  I have two kids and a wife whom I love, and I think about their future and the state of the world I will be leaving them all the time.  On this trip, I am less interested in partying and more interested in understanding and experiencing the Catalan culture and its people. 

There is no doubt that the Catalan people have been frustrated for hundreds of years.  However, during my last visit I had a simplistic, romantic ideal of the place.  That is no more.

In many ways, Barcelona feels more real and less ethereal.  That does not mean Barcelona is any less special to me. If anything, I am drawn more to this city – its emotions, its will, and its people… not to mention its Football Club. 

Now, Barcelona and its people just feel more grown up, more self-possessed, more introspective, but still hopeful… kind of like me. 

I have never seen a reflection of myself in a city until this trip, but Barcelona is not just any city.  

Visca Barcelona!

FORWARD!

Tonight was a great night! Tonight was an historic night! Tonight we re-elected Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States.

This was a long campaign. This was a bitter campaign. However, this campaign also marked a clear line in the sand for American elections and the American electorate. Women won everywhere. Women carried the day everywhere. Minorities made their voices heard. Obama won them 80%-20%. The young overwhelmingly supported the President, too. In essence, the future of this country won while the demographics that have ruled this country for so long - the white, the old, and the males - lost, and they lost big.

It is hard not to feel that President Obama and the Democratic Party are on the right side of history and that they have grasped this moment.  What matters now is what they will do with that momentum.  Will they compromise, or will they project a positive vision for the country and try to bring their Republican opponents along? I hope that we will see a little of both.

Most importantly, what will the country make of tonight's Democratic victory?  Will the people raise their voices and rightfully demand that their leaders work for them?  I hope so because we have so much work to do. We must move forward on jobs, the economy, the debt, ending wars, and rebuilding this country.  Are we up for it? Are we as big as our politics?

The answer must be yes if we are to win the future and leave our kids a better country than we were given.  I am in awe of this victory, and I will soak it up.

However, I realize that the climb will be long. Obstacles, some surmountable and some insurmountable, will stand in our way. Those who would rather gum up the works rather than reform our political stalemate will persevere.

Despite this, I am more confident than ever that we are up to the task. Why? Any nation that can commit itself to electing an African-American named Barack Hussein Obama not once but twice is serious about progress. For these reasons, I am hopeful today. I am proud today. I hope you are, too, because today we are all Americans first. Today, we traveled a little farther up the mountaintop. We must keep moving forward!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CATE REESE!

Cate turned four yesterday. Yes, I know it is hard to believe that time has passed so quickly since 2008, the year of her birth. 

We had a party for her at a local community center with some of her friends from school.  Our big girl said she did not want any presents. Rather, she said she wanted to do a book exchange where all the kids would get a new book to read.  We played games in the gym, ate bagels, and had cake with ice cream.

I was struck by how normal and at-ease Cate was and how she treated everyone with respect and care.  Again, hard to believe this was only her fourth birthday.

Today, we went to her school for a celebration.  I rushed from my morning meeting to get there and was met by Kathleen.  We sat in chairs behind Cate, who sat in a circle on the floor in front of us.  A poster with pictures of Cate from her four years was on the wall, and we told short stories about her.  Each of the children came up to Cate and wished her happy birthday. Then, each child went to wash up prior to lunch.  Very Montessori.

We stayed for lunch, and witnessed Cate get her lunch, set it up on a plate, and use her silver wear.  It is not to say she has not done this at home. However, she usually requests someone to help her or requests that someone make their lap available. I protest often, but I will miss having that little one so interested in our help.

We read stories tonight - Scooby Doo. She was Scooby, and I was Shaggy. We snuggled up, and she even let me give her a few smooches, which she usually fights.  It was a fun and relaxing night.

I look forward to many more birthdays with Cate, and I look forward to watching her continue to grow up.  She will have a major impact on this world one day. How do I know this? Because she has already made quite an impression on me!

Here's to Catherine "Cate" Reese Alumkal!

WATCH OUT!

Lately, Cate has been more into music and singing.  This is probably because of influences at school and because of Nicholas' love for music. I hope you enjoy her performance below.



I guess we need to sign someone else up for music lessons. It's a good thing we have an extra ukulele now that Nicholas has graduated to mandolin!

THE WINTER OF OUR DISCONTENT

Last week I had the pleasure of hosting a young woman named Winter Vinecki in my laboratory. I met Winter for the first time in Washington, DC several weeks ago at the Celebration of Science sponsored by the Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF). 

Winter has been a fundraiser for PCF ever since she lost her father Michael Vinecki to prostate cancer when he was 40 - one year older than me. Since the time her father was diagnosed, Winter has been driven to help find solutions to the problem of prostate cancer.

Despite the fact that she is only 13 years old, Winter has raised nearly $400,000 for prostate cancer research, and I have been a direct recipient of her fundraising. Therefore, when a local TV reporter Tim Becker asked me whether I would be interested in hosting her and her mom in the lab, I leaped at the chance. 

I showed Winter how we grow prostate cancer cells in the laboratory and what these cells looks like under the microscope. I introduced her to the folks in the lab and tried to give her a sense of how much progress we as a prostate cancer community have made - five new prostate cancer drug approvals in the past two years compared with only one drug approval prior to that time - but also how far we still have to go.

I explained that very soon we will be initiating a $10 million project with 5 other centers on the West Coast to perform the equivalent of the human genome project in 300 tumors from men with prostate cancer.  While the original human genome project cost $3 billion dollars and took 13 years to complete, we can now sequence a tumor for around $1000 dollars in 2 days. Progress continues to accelerate, but for many patients and their families, progress cannot come fast enough. I feel their urgency every week in clinic, and that is what motivates me more than anything.

There are few heroes in this world who force us to question ourselves, our own commitment, and our own desire. Winter Vinecki is one of those people.  She plans to run 7 marathons on 7 different continents, she and has already completed her first in Eugene, Oregon. Kenya, her second, is next week.

http://www.koinlocal6.com/mediacenter/local.aspx?videoid=3761413

I told Winter that my son Nicholas often asks me, "Dad, why do you have to go to work at the lab every day ?" I told Winter what I tell Nicholas when he asks me that -  one death from prostate cancer is one death too many.
How can one give anything less than one's all?  How can one be satisfied with the treatment progress we have made in recent years? How can one rest when prostate cancer takes one Michael Vinecki from us every 16 minutes in the United States?

The answer is we cannot, and we will not.  For Winter now inspires me, too. 

Julian Castro, the keynote speaker at the Democratic Convention last month in Charlotte, said that the American Dream is not a sprint. It is not a marathon. It is a relay. We are all linked. We are all in this together. The cure for cancer is no different.

I am honored to be a member of Team Winter, and I will do my best to follow her example... and to keep up with her tireless efforts and endless accomplishments so that one day our discontent with prostate cancer outcomes may turn into content.

CELEBRATION OR SEQUESTRATION

Last weekend I was in DC for "A Celebration of Science." This event was organized by Michael Milken, who founded the Prostate Cancer Foundation that funds some of my research.

The weekend's festivities were designed to shed light on the importance of science. Specifically, this event was designed to remind stakeholders - lawmakers, scientists, voters - that science is the best investment a country can make. This is because science funding creates jobs; science funding promotes the careers of young investigators and encourages even younger investigators to enter into scientific fields; science funding leads to new discoveries that launch new companies and drug development; finally, science funding leads to new treatments and cures that reduce health care costs, improve patient survival and productivity, and increase national competitiveness.  The arguments were straightforward, but they were sprinkled with passion and a few tears.

When I began medical training in the mid 90s, HIV was a death sentence. However, patients with HIV are now living long and living well because of combination anti-retroviral treatment. We met the Berliner patient. This man was HIV positive. Then, he developed leukemia that required a bone marrow transplant from another individual after high dose of chemotherapy. Not only was his leukemia cured, but so was his HIV. He is the first and only person to be cured of HIV. Let's hope he is not the last.

We met Winter Vinecki, an amazing 13 year-old whose dad died of prostate cancer at an age close to mine- 40.  After his diagnosis, Winter decided that she had to do something. Therefore, she began running races to raise money for prostate cancer research. In the last three years, she has raised over $300,000 for prostate cancer research. Her goal is to run a marathon on every single continent, and she is already on her way. 
What a hero!

At nearly every event, Democratic and Republican lawmakers were in attendance.  They spoke of the importance of science and progress. The Democrats talked about how funding must be expanded and not just kept at its current level. Eric Cantor, the House Majority Leader, however, demurred and did not offer any specifics. Surprise. Surprise.

If a budget agreement is not reached before the end of the year, the budget will go through a process called sequestration. This means that defense spending will be cut, and all non-defense spending will be cut by 8% per year. This includes science funding to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Because of Washington's dysfunction, sequestration seems imminent.

However, despite the reality of a shrinking budget and the failure of Washington to lead and invest in science, I am more motivated than ever to find new treatments and an eventual cure for cancer.  People like Winter, the other researchers, private foundations, the leaders of the NIH, and receptive congressmen give me hope. They all understand that life only improves through scientific investments.

We saw living proof of what science funding can do this weekend, and it is time for us all to decide what our health is worth. Write your Congressman and Senator! Take an active role in this decision! It is not only your health that is at stake but the health of our entire nation and the world.