To Your Health!

If you are still looking for a New Year’s Resolution, I have one to suggest -- be diligent about monitoring and managing your health.

Early this year I was diagnosed with prostate cancer. My urologist was actually shocked at my biopsy results.  I had some of the early indicators, which I had been tracking for about 7 years, and everything pointed to a continued “watchful waiting,” a process where you wait until the signs indicate that cancer is likely.  This process reminds me of a jack-in-the-box toy -- you know jack is going to pop out, you just don’t know when, but when he does, you are startled.

Jack popped out when my biopsy results came in, and I was startled.

A range of treatments were discussed, and I opted for the suggested approach...surgery.  Being fortunate enough to live close to Baltimore, I decided to seek a second opinion from the urology department at Johns Hopkins and called to make an appointment.  Apparently my timing was spot-on, as I was assigned to the world-renowned director of urology at Hopkins, Dr. Partin.  In typical fashion, when I went to my appointment, I took a chart that I had developed to track my Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA) over the last 7 years, and proudly presented it to Dr. Partin. He looked at it, and then at me, paused. and finally said, “you're an engineer right?” He continued and said, “Nice chart, but you did it wrong...you should have plotted PSA on a semi-log scale, and you would see a linear relationship.”  This immediately made me think of two things:

• Dang it! I should have known this! and;
• I really like this doctor, he was straight to the point.

My PSA moved into the watchful waiting region about 2 years ago, but when it continued to trend upward, a biopsy was ordered.  As I mentioned, my urologist was convinced that only low level cancer would be detected, and watchful waiting could continue, but I guess all the other normal signs were misleading.

I chose a robotic surgical approach since it is supposed to be more accurate, and, it is just really cool. The robotic surgeon was Dr. Allaf (aka Mo, as he was referred to by Dr. Partin when we were introduced the morning of surgery, July 3rd). Dr. Partin assisted.

Upon closer examination of my dearly departed prostate, the pathologist concluded that the cancer was a wee-bit more severe than had first been thought (an in situ biopsy only samples a tiny part of the prostate).  The cancer was concentrated on the outside region, which made it more likely to spread. Fortunately, there were no signs of it spreading, and my follow up blood tests 3 months after surgery showed no sign of cancer (PSA was not measurable).  Nonetheless, given the pathology results, I got slotted into radiation treatment, which is still underway.  By the way, I am totally amazed at the spatial accuracy of radiation these days (less than 3mm diameter).

So, as you ponder your New Year’s Resolutions, I suggest that you resolve to make sure that all your health tests are up to date, that you probe to fully understand what all of your indicators mean, and that you manage your health accordingly.  I think my engineer tendencies to measure and track everything helped me stay on top of my situation.  You only have one life, so take care of it.

My last radiation treatment is in just a few days, the day before my 61st birthday.  It has been one heck of year, and I welcome 2015!

Happy New Year!

So Long NARA

Life is uncertain.  Eat dessert first.

The world is an uncertain place these days, whether you move or whether you stay put. But several things help guide my way, and I know I have shared this thinking with some of you. The first is confidence. Confidence, but not arrogance. Confidence in one’s capabilities, in one’s adaptability, and in one’s values. The values part is important, because ultimately it will be the filter through which others see you.

I think a curiosity and a willingness to venture out of one’s comfort zone is important as well.

Getting out of the comfort zone forces one to learn new things, to take on challenges, and to expand one’s thinking. I give this advice to everyone I mentor or advise, and I follow it myself.  I believe we all need to keep learning.

 

As many of you know, my passion is engineering - applying technology to deliver business value is something that really drives me.  Throughout my career, I have come to realize that good products typically are not the best the first time they are introduced, and many times aren’t used the way they were originally intended.  Experience has taught me that one needs to do it wrong to get it right.  An unending curiosity is a critical need today, striving to learn and understand new things and to seek better, more efficient solutions.  Provided one learns from mistakes, these really aren’t failures.  A secret to success is not in knowing everything. Rather, it lies in knowing what you don't know, and finding those who do. I’ve been successful because I don’t give up on a goal, seeking out constructive criticism, asking others to tell me that my baby’s ugly, provided it truly is, and then asking them to tell me why.

 

My career can be characterized as a string of implausible challenges, and my next chapter is similar -- one that will be an outlet for creativity, and one where I can make a difference.  And perhaps most important, this role will let me be me. After all, the time we have to do such things is limited, so I want to make every moment count.

It has been my privilege to work with many wonderful people at NARA.  Thank you.

Never settle.  Keep moving forward.