Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Dr. Julie Jaffe

Dr. Jaffe is all of 25 is my guess. Five foot eight, slim, and big brown sparkly eyes that linger lovingly over her patient, Damien, of almost two years. She's daughterly (a really SMART one), she drops things, scribbles all over pads of paper, is pausing ("excuse me") to check the pager hooked to her body and always juggling the laptop as well. Her long deep brown hair flops across her face which is always fresh looking and free of makeup. She looks like a lamb but is a self-professed "lion" when it comes to tackling life-threatening cancers in her patients at Johns Hopkins. The head doctor, Steven Gore, has a lot of confidence in her. In October of 2005 Drs. Gore and Jaffe took a long look at Damien and said, "It's gonna take awhile and you're going to get a lot of chemo. We'll look for a donor among your siblings, you get a bone marrow transplant and we give you your life back." And that's exactly what they did.

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

Appears that curing cancer is less controversial than owning puppies, but I liked these past two entries.

Unknown said...

No controversies at all...we want Uncle Damien to be well. Plus, I just started getting to know him so I gotta have more time to share cigars with him and get to know his quirky being. I love his kids (and can truely say that about the ones I know well in Chattanooga), so he's gotta be at least a bit lovelable, right?

Anonymous said...

I remember that meeting. Had the honor of being there with my sister and brother-in-law. How many lives have they saved? Amazing.

kate said...

Wow. You were there weren't you. We needed you. Thank you sista.

JLW said...

This is an amazing story - do you keep a journal with these things in it? (not that you could EVER forget these things!)

kate said...

No way did I keep a journal on the last 1 1/2 and in general I don't journal. I guess I feel like so much is lost when I try to put it into words. In the past it has taken all of my energy to just live life. The pace has slowed down so much now of which I am so happy about. Time to lounge on the couch and putter around is a beautiful thing- just ask Feetofclay... Really nice to hear from you Ashley

JLW said...

So - is that how it is with 6 kids? Joel (my husband) still wants 6, so we'll be doing the same thing as you one day!

I'm not a journal-er either, I just always wish I was so that I would write all the beautiful things the Lord has done and NEVER forget them.

I'm glad you blog now Mrs. Howard! It's wonderful to hear from a mother!

Anonymous said...

You're most welcome, Kate. And jlw, 6? Whew. Do not presume that you are up to the task, but whom God calls he equips. I'm bankin' on that morsel of truth.

JLW said...

Feetofclay - I most definitely agree with you about having a large family. And in no way do I feel prepared for 6 children (although I DO love the thought of it! and looking at the Howards beautiful family is so encouraging!) BUT my dear husband has longed, apparently for his whole life, to have a very large family.

I guess you could say I'm just along for the ride on this one...I'd like to see where it leads. We do plan on adopting, so that will help ME loads! :)

kate said...

Jlw, If you go outside you can hear feetofclay (5 kids, 2 adopted from Romania) and me still howling with laughter and tears. If you knew mys story and her story you would laugh with us. Let me put it this way. Both of us almost got "put away" (far away) -at least in our own minds we thought that was our certain future!! 5 or 6 kids is as they say on the eastern shore "More than a notion". I love that saying in this instance. We are weak but He is strong. Dawn and I are just now getting into a season of relief from the mental, physical and emotional work of many children no matter how wonderful they are.

Anonymous said...

jlw, you have no idea how much comic relief you have provided to these two seasoned sisters. I'm still wiping the tears of laughter from my cheeks (as was commented once upon a time on a distant fingerpost...ahahahahaha...whew... sniff...ahaha...sigh... or something like that.) Tell me where you live and I will Fed-ex my "adopting is at least easier on the mom" child to you for two weeks this summer...any two weeks you choose. I'll even pay you. ahahahaha...sniff...whew.

Anonymous said...

Sienna, chime in anytime on this one... (ahahaha..sniff..whew!)

JLW said...

I'm glad to provide some entertainment for you both. I must have missed that past fingerpost - but its probably good anyway. Would ANYONE really pursue a LARGE family if they REALLY knew what they were up against? I'm sure it's better to be slightly nieve. I'm not scared of kids - until they are teenagers. I have absolutely no idea what to do with teenagers and I'm NOT looking forward to it. If there were no such thing as jr. high I believe that we would have more then 6. haha. I only say adopting will help me because I despise morning sickness. I don't think actually raising the child will be any easier then a biological child. Feetofclay - how old were your children when you adopted them?

Anonymous said...

jlw, Short answer...James was 5 yrs (and 27 lbs) and Maria was 7 yrs. I'm so glad you have a sense of humor, or so it would seem. My years of raising our 5 reminds me of the episode of Lucy Ricardo working at the chocolate factory. Before I knew it, I was in way over my head. :) James and Maria have been home with us for almost 11 years. James is almost 16, going on 11. Maria will be 18 this summer and is absolutely delightful (don't confuse delightful with problem-free.) ( If you ever want to chat seriously about adopting, we should switch over to email. THis little box is way too small for our story.

JLW said...

feetofclay - I want to hear the rest!

Mr. and Mrs. Howard both have my e-mail, maybe they can pass it on to you?

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