mcupdate2

Medical Corner

Update 2 November 2007

by Chelle Zulick

Hi Everyone;

More exciting news in the Medical Corner…..…After months and months of work and anticipation the GME brochures are finally here….YEAH……!!! Yes, this has been a long personal journey and I am so proud and so grateful to see this finally come to light. There are so many people to thank and so many prayers that have been answered, thank you to everyone for your kindness, support and friendship. It means so much to me, to Stormy and to all the little babies out there that will be diagnosed with GME this next year.

I met with Mr. MacKillop (Stormy’s Big Doctor), Dr. Munana, Dr. Mariana and Julie (their clinical assistant and manager for all the neurological programs) Oct 31, 2007 and they presented me with the brochures for GME….Yes, there were tears in my eyes….It was a very special moment for me as well as for them……!!!!!!!!!!!

My date at NCSU was nothing short of fabulous….It started out with me sitting in the waiting room for a few minutes as I listened in on a conversation between 2 doctors and 2 ladies…. I think they call this eavesdropping It sounded as if their little baby had a liver shunt but I could not be certain…See, I was ease dropping…..Well, the doctors left and I asked the ladies what was wrong with their baby and they replied” Gracie has a Liver Shunt”, I then asked the next question, “What kind of dog is Gracie”, reply, “A Yorkie”….well, that started a whole conversation about Liver Shunts and the great success there is with these little guys and gals. As I sat there talking with these ladies Dr. MacKillop came out and gave me a big hug….It had been since Stormy’s passing since we had seen each other. He then listened as I talked with the yorkie moms and chimed in about the quality of life these little babies have after surgery and about the YAP..YES, that is right he talked about YAP and all the information on the web site on Liver Shunts. Well, then Julie cam out and we introduced ourselves, see we had never met just communicated through email…It was so wonderful to finally meet her. She has been so instrumental in getting the CREATE FUND up and running. Then off we went to meet lots of other people, fundraisers, directors, and other doctors that would soon to be apart of the CREATE FUND and the research that is about to start. Julie had my day all planned out with meetings and a tour of parts of the hospital that I had never seen. Each time I was there I was so busy with Stormy that I had never really seen the whole hospital. How exciting. I felt so special and so grateful.

Julie had lunch for all of us and that is when we all sat down and talked about GME, the CREATE FUND and how to move forward. Some monies in the fund have been used to help other families that could not afford the tests required for the diagnosis of GME.

As we all know this is a very expensive disease to diagnose and manage and without some financial assistance many families would not be able to afford the required testing. The first start for the research with GME will be genetic…..Yes, they are looking to try and identify a link to GME in the Maltese. The really neat part about this is the test can be done with a cheek swipe. No blood, no tests, no pain…..I thought this was really wonderful news. Of course the protocol has to be written and then the study can be started. Dr. Mariana will head up this study with the assistance of the neurological department at NCSU.

Then we talked about all the work that YAP is doing and they are so THANKFUL to each and every member for their support and contributions. They asked to me to extend a HUGE THANK YOU…. *I gave them the UT brochures for the Angel Fund and the Fancy Fund. One of the main ambitions of the YAP is to get the information out there, to owners, to local vets and yes even to share that information with other Universities. It is all about sharing information and getting the best care for the babies. NCSU has been very generous with their time and dedication to GME and the CREATE FUND. In the CREATE FUND Brochure they have listed the YAP and the website…..that means that every body that receives this brochure has the website for our group….that is GREAT NEWS……And there is one more piece of exciting news, NCSU has a magazine, similar to UT that talks about the University and their undertakings, advances and interesting stories. Well, in the November edition Julie wrote a piece on Stormy (The CREATE Fund) and they included the YAP and the website…Everyone that receives this magazine will also receive the website for YAP…..Again this is just fabulous. Word is getting out there….and it is people like you that are making things happen.

I am working with Julie on getting the link so that we can post the article and the brochure on the website. Then everyone will be able to read them.

I am still anticipating a follow-up meeting with Dr. Mark East (we work together) concerning stents and advancements that are in the making. I will keep everyone posted as I go through the process. Like most…I am an impatient person. I like things done yesterday…but medicine is not something that happens fast….so while we go through this process I must remember that patience is an absolute virtue and embrace this philosophy….Progress is being made everyday and we are defiantly a part of tomorrows treatments and cures.

Thank you to everyone…..

Chelle

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