I might be amazing.

I have only worked at the Foundation for 5 days, and I have already (maybe) found a cure for HIV.

Yep. Its true.

Today we had a presentation with Dr. Robert Gallo who is a co-discoverer of HIV and is currently the Director of the Institute of Human Virology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. He went over the basics of the virus and explained what they were doing to find a vaccination to rid the population of this retrovirus.

When it came time for questions, I had one.

"I was a veterinary assistant for a few years, and it was common for me to vaccinate cats for Feline Aids and Feline Leukemia. What is the difference in the virus, and why is it that we are able to vaccinate felines already, but not humans?"

Actually, the way I asked it made me sound SO much smarter, especially because Dr. Gallo understood me. The above quote was created for all you blog stalkers, put into layman's terms for your sake :). This is how it was really stated:

"Why are we able to vaccinate for FIV and FELK but not HIV? What is the difference in the virus?" I totally sound like I know what Im talking about, right?!

Anyway, after being taken aback with my obvious intelligence, Dr. Gallo responded in a way that humbled me back to my high-school diploma status. This is my interpretation:

"Well, they have created an envelope...bla...bla...TRK...ABC to kill off the RXp2 of the virus acting as a IPRT that sends alerts to the TRC cells..."

Yeah, a totally different language. I nodded my head and "followed along."

Then, he turned to the other scientists that were touring with him, they proceeded to speak in "Smart" and then Dr. Gallo turned back to me and said:

"Well, I hadn't thought of that before. That's something I would like to experiment with. Thank you."

The audience turned to me, recognizing that I may have just input some small but life changing idea into this genius's mind.

Then I laughed and asked, "Well, do I get credit if something happens?" Everyone laughed and Dr. Gallo told me I could get 90% of the credit. Then he asked me to see him afterward to talk more.

I don't remember the rest of the meeting because I had other thoughts in mind.

"Is he going to ask me to work with him?"

"Am I a savior?"

"Can I change my title to Superhero?"

After the conference his Scientist buddies approached me and spoke to me more about my knowledge in the feline viral studies (very limited, I promise). I even proved a scientist wrong who tried to tell me there was no vaccine for FIV.

"Yes, there is."

Bald scientist says, "She's right. There is one."

Don't try and deny me of my kitty knowledge dude.

Anyway, Dr. Gallo just came up to me, shook my hand and thanked me for my input. Well, Dr. Gallo, if you do find a cure for the HIV, I hope that your Nobel Peace Prize speech starts off with "I met this engaging woman at a presentation I had at the Gates Foundation..."

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

I am giddy about my new job! It feels so good to be working for a company that is literally trying to save the world. The Bill & Melinda Gates foundation is a non-profit organization in Seattle that is trying to improve the status of life for people around the world. I am working in the Global Health Department. I process grants everyday that are given to research organizations that are trying to create immunizations, diagnostics and treatments for diseases such as TB, Malaria and AIDS. I am impressed everyday by the things that the Gates Foundation does.

First off, they have two wonderful mission statements.

"To whom much is given, much is expected."

"All lives - no matter where they are being led - have equal value."

Both of these are things that I believe, and that the gospel teaches. Isn't it so great that a company feels the same way?!

Secondly, they are so great to their employee's! There are free lunches, so far everyday, they pay for my bus pass and parking and just check out my view! Although the city doesn't look as great when its rainy, its such a cool thing to look out my window and see the Space Needle. I am so thankful for this job, and I hope it lasts! I am also thankful for the people that helped me land this awesome position with such a great team. The Dillon/Campbell family has always been there to employ me! Thanks!

Entiat

This weekend we made the 2 hour drive into Entiat to hang out at the Orchard that the band plays at every year. I got to sit in as Keyboardist and I was shocked that I played as well as I did considering I haven't played for months.

We camp down by the Colombia river and this year both my parents and Shauna were able to come along. Oh yes, and ALL the dogs. Don't you love the above picture that my mom tried to ruin?

It was Brimley's first time camping, and we were surprised at how good he was. He played all day, and slept all night. Brimley is the social one, and made plenty of friends on this trip. He is such a fun puppy.

The Bean family brought their jet ski's and we got to play around on them in the cold river. It was really choppy on the water, and I got pretty soaked. Matt and Shauna had never driven a jet ski until this trip. It was so funny to hear them scream!

That night, after dinner, the band played for a few hours while the party goer's danced away. It was a fun gig, and a perfect night to play outside.

The next morning we headed into Levenworth for some Bavarian lunch. We ate outside on a terrace overlooking the mountains. It was great and I learned that I could put sauerkraut on anything!

Bye, bye bad cells.

My biopsy results came back with positive news. (About time!) They were able to remove all of the pre-cancerous cells, and there was enough tissue removed that they dont believe it will come back. I still have to get tested every 6 months, but I can live through that after the LEEP.

I am on fertility treatments now, but mostly just to get my hormones to where they want them before I start getting really serious about getting pregnant. I am on day 8, and I am feeling good. A lot of people I talked to who are taking these drugs complained about moodiness and lethargy. I feel neither which makes me think that they will have to up the dose since my progesterone is so low.

So, I have a blood test in 2 weeks that will determine where we go from here. I am pretty excited to be on the treatments, but I do not want to get my hopes up since they have been nothing but crumbled for the past year.

I also started my new job! More to come on that. I need to take some pictures :)