Starfish

Walk Newsletter/ 9.23.11

In This Issue

UN Summit

The Star Thrower

Elephant in the Room

UN Summit on NCDs

Greetings!

Good morning! How has your week been?

Please go ahead and answer; we can hear you.

Plus, we have a lot to share from our week and we don't want to feel guilty for just talking and talking while you didn't get to say a thing.

Anyway, I had an exciting weekend attending side meetings to the UN Summit on NCDs (oooohh!! look at you big fancy doctor man with your string of consonants).

NCD stands for Non-Communicable Diseases and the four focused on are heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and chronic lung disease.

The UN Summit on NCDs was the second of its kind to focus on a global disease issue. The first UN Summit related to health was the HIV/AIDS meeting in 2001 which led to the creation of the

Global Fund.

Whilst NCDs cause 60% of global deaths each year, they are largely preventable.

I had the extreme pleasure of attending side meetings put on by the ACSM (American College of Sports Medicine) and IFIC (International Food Information Council). It was here where I was able to share the Walk with a Doc vision with the President's Council of Fitness, CDC, EU, ACC, and many other global leaders. The response was amazing.

It was heaven on earth.

Possibly the biggest thrill, however, was meeting the United State's Surgeon General, Vice Admiral Regina M. Benjamin MD, MBA.

Dr. Pamela Peeke, a national medical leader and friend of the Surgeon General, had told Dr. Benjamin I might try to say hello to her. Sure enough, Dr. B gave the keynote luncheon address at both meetings. The first day, Dr. B was mobbed by press and attendees wanting pictures. The second day, I had a small window before the Surgeon General took the podium. I jumped up from my seat and rushed up to stand behind the gentleman speaking with her.

As he left, the Surgeon General was being pulled on stage but stared right at my name tag and smiled, "Ahhh good! Pam told me I might see you here."

I froze. The Surgeon General knew who I was!

Then I was like, "Ummmm....Dr. Surgeon General...I've ...I've been to Washington D.C. before", and then I was like "UGH, I'm so stupid!" and then I was like, "You're very nice" and then I was like, I shouldn't have said that either. UGHH!!!

I turned around to leave, hoping she wouldn't remember who I was. Then she called after me, "I need your card." And I was like SWEET!! Dr. Benjamin wants my card. I gave her my card, turned around and she called after me again, "David, I will be in touch." And I was like, whoa - that was so cool!

Then I started back to my seat. I was so happy I was staring at a beautiful chandelier and singing,

"I'm bad. I'm bad. Talkin' with the Surgeon General, I'm bad..." and then...right on cue...I tripped.

I tripped over a large, shiny purple purse (with leopard print highlights). It belonged to the

Undersecretary of State of the Peruvian Ministry of Health. It sent me crashing into a VIP table of eight physicians from the Pan-American Council. The majority of these doctors had just sat down with their buffet lunch to listen to Dr. Benjamin. I was spinning as I went down, and I landed with my right flank jamming into their table. The thud was loud, but the cacophony of silver and glassware hitting the floor was equally disturbing.
Clutching my right side in unbearable pain, I screamed, "OH MY G-D! MY SPLEEN! MY SPLEEN!!!" It was certainly concerning to the hundreds of startled doctors in the room. The camera prepared to focus on Dr. B was now directed at me. The dual screens now showed a Midwestern Cardiologist clutching his right flank.
The Surgeon General was so kind to delay her talk and hurry down from the podium to help me back on my feet. With a deep, genuine concern, she asked if I was all right. Tears pouring down my red face, my mouth filled with an overwhelming taste of salt. I managed a nod of yes, I would be okay.
Then, as she was helping me up, in a voice so soft only I could hear, she whispered in my left ear.
"Doctor, as you know, your spleen is on the left side."

Dr. Benjamin went on to give a wonderful and motivational talk; closing with a beautiful story, similar to one below.

The Star Thrower

Once upon a time there was a wise man who used to go to the ocean to do his writing. He had a habit of walking on the beach before he began his work.

One day he was walking along the shore. As he looked down the beach, he saw a human figure moving like a dancer. He smiled to himself to think of someone who would dance to the day. So he began to walk faster to catch up.

As he got closer, he saw that it was a young man and the young man wasn't dancing, but instead he was reaching down to the shore, picking up something and very gently throwing it into the ocean.

As he got closer he called out, "Good morning! What are you doing?"

The young man paused, looked up and replied, "Throwing starfish in the ocean."

"I guess I should have asked, why are you throwing starfish in the ocean?"

"The sun is up, and the tide is going out. And if I don't throw them in they'll die."

"But, young man, don't you realize that there are miles and miles of beach, and starfish all along it. You can't possibly make a difference!"

The young man listened politely. Then bent down, picked up another starfish and threw it into the sea, past the breaking waves and said, "It made a difference for that one."

Can we have this story serve as a call to action? A call for each of us to find one person, at least one "new" person, and go for a walk or bike ride with them. We need action, we need it now, and you, my friend, will become even more of a hero then you are already.

The Elephant in the Room

*The Walk Newsletter Screening Committee (WNSC) has placed a rating of PG-13 on the following column. It has been labeled "inappropriate" and revealing a "lack of institutional control". At the same time, it was deemed permissible for release, for as one committee member put it,
"It's not much different than most of the other cr-- he puts out"

Let's face it - it's been a hard week for all of us.

In news that rocked our non-profit world, the blessed union of Michaele and Tareq Salahi appears to have come to abrupt end. The couple that (sniff, sniff) came to inspire a nation (sniff, sniff)... Look at me?! I can't even write about it without getting choked up.

A young, privileged couple rises from obscurity after crashing a White House in honor of

India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. America rewards this breech of federal security with the hit Bravo reality television show, The Real Housewives of D.C.

This was the ultimate riches to riches story that we all dream of. Now, it's over, and I...I just can't believe it.

In light of the disaster, Walk with a Doc Inc. wishes to make the following statements. All adjustments to current bylaws take effect immediately upon the release of this newsletter, the morning of September 23rd, 2011:

1. WWAD Headquarters and all of our satellite offices will now be closing at noon beginning Friday, September 23rd, 2011 and continuing indefinitely.

2. Professional counseling assistance will be available to all of our associates from 12-5 (or later if need be) from Mon-Fri. We will resume regular business hours when our counselors have let me know everyone is safe and ready to return to work.

3. Our branch in the District of Columbia will have "Don't Stop Believin'" on loop. We have done this for two reasons. One is, of course, the message this song conveys, and two, we can only hope it assures our associates that Michaele is in a safe place, with her lover, guitarist from the band Journey, Neal Schon.

4. The addition of all new walks is temporarily on hold as to not place an undue burden on our staff. All presumable coming to work with heavy hearts.

5. The Walk with a Doc Commissary will continue to serve the Michaele and Tareq Salami Sandwich on Rye - however, we will no longer be serving this with its previous side. All employees may substitute fruit or baked chips with no upcharge.

6. While we are aware that Tareq is safe and accounted for, we have not heard from Michaele. Some of the emotions our staff has shared regarding Michaele being "missing" - we feel helpless, concerned, and frightened.

Ugh, if there was just a way we knew she was okay...Ughhh!...I swore I wouldn't cry. This is just so hard. Red eyes. Deep breath. Smile. Okay

In all our branches, our flat screens are showing a clip featuring a woman the FBI have confirmed as Michaele Salahi.

We only hope that she is not under distress.

The video clip is was taken from an iPhone at a Journey concert last week in Austin. A woman that appears to be Michaele is in the front row with a Journey cap on, placed backwards. She is wearing a dirty white, fringe T-shirt with a low neckline. She's holding a half-full bottle of Jack in left hand, and her right arm is extended with her right hand signaling, Hook 'em Horns. Her tongue is protruding from her mouth, and almost touching her chin. She is smiling ear to ear.

One must admit, to the casual observer, she seems content.

7. This can often hit the youngest of us all the hardest. All WWAD Office Daycare (free to all employees) curriculum has been diverted from Goodnight Moon and Curious George Takes a Bike Ride. We are now taking the time to carefully explain all of the TMZ reports, especially to our 2-4 year olds. This is an age when news like this can be terribly hard to understand.

If there is one good thing about all this, it's what I will be able to tell my grandkids one day.

I'll be able to look at them both and say, "Walker, Docker: I was there. I witnessed Camelot firsthand, and it was absolutely GLORIOUS!"

For all this week's walks, please click here.

See you Saturday,

David

www.walkwithadoc.org