azette

Carnet de VoyageMumbai, Goa, Barcelona, Auckland, Mexico City, Galice

G December 2011

2 Gazette 2011

Gazette is published intermittently,

often before Christmas but sometimes after

by fLy bY niGHt proDUCtions.

Subscriptions are free,

but we like a card or a visit.

Medical: www.voicedoctor.netArt: www.flybynightpro.com

Girls: www.twinsis.us

James & Susan ThomasSydney & Morgan

1316 SW Mitchell LanePortland, OR 97239 - 2826

issue 31

jim@voicedoctor.net (503) 341-2555susan@voicedoctor.net (503) 341-0767

moogen@twinsis.us (503) 867-0796sydney@twinsis.us (503) 867-0798

house: (503) 892-2920

Cover photo: Floating down the Rogue River, Oregon.Below: Mt. Adams, WashingtonCenterfold: The family in Colorado Springs, ColoradoBack Cover: James channeling U2 on the piano.

Photography, travel, teens, tennis, gymnastics, running, rafting, cycling, surgery: 2011 fulfilled expectations and then some!

3

Carpe diem

Photography

Travel

Savoring life

3

4 Gazette 2011

New Z ealand by James

Invited by colleagues Randall Morton and Zahoor Ahmad, I flew off to New Zealand to lecture on voice disorders. I discovered a country where you can see both sides from a hilltop. From

Randall’s bach on the west coast, with the tree ferns and windswept beaches, to Zahoor’s bach overlooking east coast islands, cows grazing nearby, with Auckland in the distance; the country is green and gorgeous.

I almost missed the trip when 7 days before leaving, my bicycle met a pothole on my weekly Saturday ride. I fractured my clavicle and occipital condyle - the connection between

the skull and the spine. The clavicle fracture was plated on Tuesday, the skull/neck fracture supported with a brace and I boarded my f light to New Zealand a little worse for wear

Abov

e: Th

e for

est n

ear R

anda

ll’s ba

ch (p

rono

unce

d “ba

tch”

).Be

low: C

onfe

renc

e inv

itees

from

Belg

ium, S

witz

erlan

d & Tu

rkey

samp

ling R

anda

ll’s

food

and w

ine.

5

on Saturday.By the time I left the island, I had

walked a great deal of Auckland, seen a variety of the North Island loca-tions, made many new friends and even piloted an America’s Cup Yacht. I sampled the wine, found great cof-

Above: Randall Morton exuberantly telling a story.Middle: The hills in Auckland. Yes, you can jump off the tower. No, I did not.Below: Auckland Harbor. Yes, you can sail there. Yes, I did.

fee shops, discovered One Tree Hill and enjoyed the end of the summer in February.

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6 Gazette 2011

Top: Dolphins in the Bay of Islands.Above right: Docs from New Zealand, Belgium & Switzerland savoring wine at Zahoor’s bach.Above left: Zahoor Ahmad. Left middle: Zahoor & GoodeyBelow: The twinkling lights of Auckland from Zahoor’s bach.

New Z ealand

by James

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7

Above: Sheep grazing an island in the Bay of Islands.Middle: Maori performing the Haka - tongues coming waaay out.Below: Just finished at the helm of NZL 41, an America’s Cup yacht.

New Z ealand

by James

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8 Gazette 2011

Left

: Fell

ow sc

ientis

ts a

t the

Pan-

Euro

pean

otola

ryng

ology

conf

eren

ce.

BarcelonaI presented my research on gender

voice change to European otolaryngol-ogy colleagues at the EUFOS confer-ence. On the weekend, I struck out on

June landed me in Spain for an ENT meeting in Barcelona - along with my bicycle. One week later, I left with a sunburn as well as a pocket full of memories of Spanish and Catalonian food

and hospitality.

Spain

my bicycle through the city, learning about mid-day spanish heat, immi-grants, café con hielo and that no local shows up to a restaurant before 10 pm.

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... architects and lovers!

Barcelona is for cyclists...

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Spain

10 Gazette 2011

An early morning flight departing Toronto above.

On the left, my white haired pilot, to whom I entrust my life. Below,

San Francisco airport, a frequent stop.

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I enjoy the magical daily events of life for which the camera illuminates the difference between

looking and seeing.

12 Gazette 2011

Weddingsby James

12

Chris Chang, my 2005 laryngology fellow, invited me to his spring Virginia garden wedding to Jessica Even.

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n September, K i r s t y n A llen invited

the family to her autumn wedding with M ichael Lehmkuhl in M arkham, north of Toronto, Ontario.

I K irstyn

14 Gazette 2011

Falling Apart by Susan

I think my body is beginning to fail me. While out on a run, I jumped out of the way of a speeding teenager (not mine) driv-ing down a hill and felt a ping in my back and buttock area.

I continued to run for another 8 miles thinking that there wasn’t anything seriously wrong.

After continuing to run for the next week without any reduction in pain, I finally went to see my friendly chiropractor Scott, who seemed to feel fairly confident that it wasn’t my back because everything was in alignment. Deciding not to be a wimp, I kept on training for the half marathon that-Kirsten, Valarie and I were running in

June. I knew my run wasn’t going to be great, since the pain in my hip and butt area was constant and at times ex-cruciating, but decided to run the half-marathon anyway. I mean, what could it hurt. I actually finished, certainly not my best time, but considering, I felt somewhat pleased and even didn’t hurt that bad, at least not until the

next morning. I went to get out of bed, stepped onto the floor and my right knee was so painful that I could not put any pressure on it. I looked down and my knee was absolutely huge. I began thinking that I was officially falling apart, my left hip/butt and now my right knee; gosh it sucks to get old. After a Sunday afternoon visit to our orthopaedic friend and col-league, Dennis, my self-diagnosis of a tear of the labrum of the hip and the meniscus of the knee was substantiated at least by clini-cal exam. Two MRI’s later and a visit to an adult orthopaedist confirmed the diagnosis. Now the biggest decision was how best Le

ft: S

usan

, Vale

rie E

dwar

ds &

Kirs

ten Z

ilke a

t the

Helv

etia

Half

Mar

atho

n whe

re sh

e tor

e her

hip a

nd kn

ee.

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to schedule two surgeries, recovery and rehab, especially since the hip surgery needed 3-6 weeks off work to recover and accommodate the 6 hours/day of using a CPM (continu-ous passive motion) machine and therapy 3 days a week. Surgery for the knee was scheduled in August, with hip surgery to follow 5 weeks later in September. My best-laid plans almost were put on hold, when I sustained my third injury of the year, a broken rib during our rafting adventure. Luckily things only come in three’s. I hope anyway. Although I am now on the road to recovery, albeit slower than what I would like, I am hoping that as I enter my 50th year, next year, my body holds up a little better than it did this year, as I have many more sporting events that I would like to participate in.

Top Right: Susan running the half MarathonBottom: Camping

16 Gazette 2011

Almost thereWell this year I finally completed

all of the class work for my degree. Although it felt like a huge weight off my shoulder not to have to go to class anymore, I still had one huge hurdle to get over before I would be able to pursue my disser-tation - the dreaded comprehensives. In the systems science department, compre-hensives consist of 4 hour exams in each of your four subject areas over one week, followed by a 2 hour oral, given that you pass your written por-tion first. After what seemed like months and endless hours of study-ing, I wrote the written exams in late October - early November. After suc-cessfully passing this huge step, it was on to my oral portion. For someone who gives presentations and is used to being on the spot I felt like this would be the easy part, however, this was not the case. I am not sure how I could best describe the disaster. Needless to say, I didn’t pass this portion. At least you get two strikes before you are out and I will receive another chance to take my orals and demonstrate my knowl-edge again in the winter term (time not determined yet). I am sure with the help of my faithful study partners Teresa, Rajesh and Josh they will make certain that I am well prepared and can articulate all of the information

clearly, write every possible equation on the board, explain the significance of each concept, all with the confi-dence that they are expecting from a PhD candidate. Time will only tell how things go from here. Keep your fingers crossed.

Relegated to the vanIn order to facilitate the girls

summer gymnastics schedule and new school block schedule, it became very clear that it was much easier for them to drive themselves rather than for me to modify my work schedule on a daily basis. Since we already have three vehicles, this was easy to accommodate; however it meant that instead of driving my car, the Acura MDX, I was relegated to the oversized Chevy conversion van. While the van is a great road trip vehicle, it is not a friendly city vehicle because of its in-ability to park on the city streets easily or fit in any parking garage (except the one at my hospital). Despite driv-ing the big white whale around town making things a little more challeng-

17

another teenage daughter, Nuria, from Spain. We enjoyed the weeks of showing Nuria our favorite places in Oregon and Washington and sharing in first experiences for both her and us. Despite having three teenagers in the house, we were all sad to see her go. Mid-July brought Monique, Jim’s fellow from Belguim. It was a pleasure to share more Oregon places and experiences with her that we will remember for a lifetime.

Left: Systems Science PhD Candi-dates Teresa, Susan and Rajesh.Above Right: Julia Paulino and SusanBottom: The Paulino clan visiting in the spring: John Paulino, Sydney, Julia Paulino, Morgan, Susan, James, Kirstyn Allen, Michael Lehmkuhl.

ing, the freedom that both the girls and I have with respect to schedules has provided all of us a new freedom that we are all enjoying.

Foreign Visitors This year brought visitors from

Canada, Spain and Belguim. April brought a visit from our neighbours to the North, Julia and John Pau-lino along with daughter Kirstyn and fiancé Michael to celebrate Julia’s 50th birthday and Easter. It was a wonderful time of great celebrations and holiday traditions; food, wine and company. June provided me with

18 Gazette 2011

The BahndTrinity Episcopal Cathedral

The Bahnd continued making music and raising food pantry funds at alternative liturgical

services. My piano repetoire increased (Decem-berists, Beatles & U2) and I dusted off the hammer dulcimer for a Bluegrass session.

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19

Above right: Bluegrass Porchlight session bahndAbove left: U2 liturgy serviceLeft: Decemberist liturgy serviceBelow left: Beatles liturgy serviceBelow: The Hammered Dulcimer which I play from time to time

Right: Amy Polo wearing the piano at the Beatles service (photo by Sydney Thomas who along with Morgan began taking a photography class at school this year.)

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20 Gazette 2011

Top:

MAC

Leve

l 8 gy

mnas

tics t

eam

Left

: Mor

gan,

Holly

nd &

Syd

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t Sta

te Co

mpet

ition

Morgan's Memoriesby Morgan

PetsThis year started off with me

finally convincing my parents that I should have a pet. They let me get fish. I started out with 3 fish. A f t e r 4 8 hours, some-how two of t h e m h a d d i e d . B ut , no worries, because over t he cou rs e of this year I have had 10 and again I am somehow down to one fish. I don’t know what happens to them, some of them die, while others just completely disappear.

GymnasticsAlso, in January I had my first

m e e t w i t h t h e MAC. I was a level 8, but now with a new g ym, each meet I got better and better. I com-p e te d i n C olo -rado, California, Washington and of course, Oregon. At state I placed

fourth on vault, third on bars, first on beam, fifth on floor and third in the all around. Also, the MAC level 8 team placed first in the state of Or-

egon. I qualified for regional’s, which was held in Pullman, Washington. I got seventh on bars, fifth on floor and beam, and sixth in the all around. The best part was driving up with Hollynd. It was just like 7 years ago when we were all back at the MJCC and we would drive to every meet together.

21

Easter day we were shopping down in the Pearl. We had gone in to Anthropology, but my sister and I had no reason to look around. We sat down on the couch. I w a s

bored and just l o o k i n g a rou nd . T he next thing I knew, I saw Shawn John-son. Right then I turn to Sydney to tell her. We then debated if we are too old for a picture. We decided no, so we asked to have a photo with her. That made both our Easters. (Shawn Johnson placed second in the all around for gymnastics at the 2008 Olympics)

DiningThis year we have gone to different

restaurants with Natalie, Hannah and their moms. We have gone to Por Que No and the best breakfast place in the world, called Sloppy Cakes. It was so good. More get togethers are sure to come in the next year.

GlassesIn June, I had finished my sophomore year at

Wilson High School and summer had

finally come. I got glass-

es, but I

only n e e d

t h e m t o drive and to

see the board in class, so it is not that

big of a deal.

VisitorThis summer we had an exchange

student from Spain; Nuria. She was here for 3 weeks. We went to Seattle, Hood River, Mt. Hood and many local places around Portland. She celebrated her first American July 4th with us and we went to a Tim-bers game. One thing all three of us enjoyed was shopping, which we did a lot of. It was so much fun having a second sister and I miss her so much. It was one of the best things about summer. I hope to go to Madrid, Spain and visit her one day.

22 Gazette 2011

SummerThis summer Sydney, Hollynd

and I decided to put colorful streaks in our hair. Sydney did pink, Hol-lynd did purple and I did blue. It was something I have always wanted to do, but I was too scared. We all did it together and I loved it. Sydney’s and Hollynd’s streak came out at the end of summer, but somehow mine stayed until December, when I decided to bleach it out.

The end of the summer wrapped up with the best week of my summer. We went rafting with the Polo and Shute families. We spent a week on the Rogue River. It was sunny every day. We had to wear a lot of sun-screen but, it was worth it. We rafted 4 out of the 5 days. We had a rest day at the beginning of the trip. The rest day was spent lay-

ing around, swimming in the water, having water fights and going to the creek swimming hole. We then rafted each day. In the middle of the trip, we stopped at an isolated ranch and jumped off of a huge fifteen foot tall boulder into a deep pool in a creek. It was scary, the water was cold, but in the end, it was refreshing and very exciting.

We saw a couple of bears on the last day. Thankfully they were on the other side of the river. The whole raft-ing trip was a lot of fun.

Top:

Mor

gan,

Sydn

ey &

Nur

ia at

a Po

rtlan

d Tim

bers

Soc

cer g

ame

Left

: Mor

gan’s

high

light

23

The last highlight of my summer was going to Mamma Mia, the musi-cal. I loved the movie, but the musical was better.

SchoolIn September, I started my junior

year at Wilson High School. I am tak-ing AP Government, Honors English, Photography, 4th year French, Physics, Pre-Calculus and Yearbook.

ShoppingThis thanksgiving break

started with spending the first weekend with friends Natalie and Hannah. We went shop-ping and got our picture taken with Santa. Then on Wednes-day my mom took us shopping to hit the pre-Black Friday deals. The mistake was convincing my

mom to take us to Washington Square at midnight on Black Friday. I did not think it would be that bad because I promised her we would only go to Victoria Secret Pink. We got there at 11:45 pm and there was a long line already. Right when the doors opened, everyone just started pushing and shoving to get in. All Sydney and I wanted was a pair of yoga pants. We got in and got them. We headed to the line and waited about 30 minutes and we got nowhere. So we decide to get nothing and head home.

At home, we ordered them online and get all the same deals. That is the last time I will ever go shopping on Black Friday.

DrivingAs the year comes to an end, I

have turned 17. It’s crazy how fast it came. I have had my driver’s license for a year and my sister and I drive to school and gymnastics every day. Our parking skills are very limited; we cannot parallel park at all. I also cannot drive on the freeway because I don’t know how to merge. I manage to get to all the important places like the MAC, school, the mall and all my friend’s houses.

Top:

B&W

patt

ern p

hoto

for P

hoto

grap

hy cl

ass

Below

: Nur

ia, M

orga

n & S

ydne

y at M

ike’s

Ice

Crea

m in

Hood

Rive

r, Ore

gon

24 Gazette 2011

Happy Holidays fromSusan, Sydney, Morgan & James

25

Thomas Family Portrait

Happy Holidays fromSusan, Morgan, Sydney & James

26 Gazette 2011

17 Yearsby Sydney

2011 has been a great year, filled with many new and interesting

things. But hopfully 2012 will be just as great if not better.

This year started off with a great New Year’s Eve party to enter into the new year. Soon gymnastics meets came. With a new gym and a new team I went level eight again and had one of the best seasons ever. Our first meet was held at the MAC. It was good to get into competing again, but still using the same equiptment that we pratice on. January was filled with school, homework and gymnastics meets.

At the beginning of Febuary we went to Colorado Springs, Colorado for a gymnastics meet. The weather there was cold and snowy but re-ally fun to play and swim in. Also, we competed at the Mac Open which was

really fun. Our team placed second and I got first in the all around. We also went to San Jose for a gymnastics meet.

In April, we competed at state where our team got first. I also placed first on bars and i n t h e a l l a r o u n d . I qualified to regionals. Regionals was in April and was held in Pullman, Washingtion. We drove up there with a teammate, Hollynd. Although it was a long drive it was a fun drive. At re-

gional I got third on vault, first on bars, eighth on beam, fifth on floor and first in the all around. It was a great way to end the sea-son. With sum-mer nearing and school coming to a close, I was excited for the summer.

On the sec- Left

: Sum

mert

ime h

airTo

p: B

&W ph

oto f

rom

Wils

on Ph

otog

raph

y clas

s

27

ond day of sum-mer I got my w isdom teeth pu l le d wh ic h wa sn’t a s bad as I thought it would be. Ar-ter we got them pulled, we were so bored that we convinced my mom to take us shopping. I was lucky to not have much swelling.

After that, summer was great. We had an exchnge student from Spain who was tons of fun. We both enjoyed the same things and got along great. My summer was filled with gymnas-tics but, I also managed to go shopping and swimming with friends and just have a good time. In August, we went rafting on the Rogue river, with the Shute and Polo families. Rafting, swimming, hiking , eating and sing-ing was tons of fun and a great way for summer to come to a close.

September came and school started up again. At the beginning of the school year we went to Canada for a friends wedding. It was very pretty and great weather. This year I am a junior at Wilson High School. I am taking AP government, English honors 5-6, French 7-8, photogra-phy, physics, pre-calcus and year-book. So far this year I have enjoyed yearbook and photography the most. In yearbook, I do the business part of it, which is fun and interesting to learn about. In photography, I really enjoy taking pictures and developing

Top:

Syd

ney o

n vau

lt at

Mac

Ope

n Mee

tBo

ttom

: Wea

ring P

ink at

Crat

er La

ke, O

rego

n

them in the dark room.In November, I turned 17 and

have had my drivers licence for a year. This year we now drive to school and gymnastics every day. I don’t really like driving but I enjoy the freedom of going places when I want. As 2012 nears, I am geting ready for gymnastics season and starting to look at colleges, hopefully another great year.

28 Gazette 2011

Morgan, Sydney, Erica, Lucie, Annie @ Parade

Morgan, Sydney kayaking @ Rogue river

Sydney, Hollynd, Morgan @ Judge’s Cup

Sydney is pink, Morgan is blue...

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Pigs go oink,

Cows go moo.

Poem by: Sofia Polo & Andrew

Shute

❤

Kaitlin, Sydney, Hannah, Niki, Morgan @ swimming

17th Birthday Party

Hannah, Natalie, Morgan, Sydney @ Slappy Cakes

30 Gazette 2011

Gymnastics

Gymnastics

31

Gymnastics

32 Gazette 2011

Crater Lake Blue &Pink

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Crater Lake Blue &Pink

34 Gazette 2011

T hree families headed for southern Oregon to savor the waters of the Rogue River. Starting with a visit to Crater Lake at the headwaters of the Rogue, we descended the

wild and scenic mid-section of the river by raft.

Rogue RiverOregon

35

Memories - Risky business: Bumper Boating through Blossom Bar. Boats departing before boarding. For some, Poi-son Oak & steep slopes are more hazardous than bears. Descend-ing the side of a mountain late in the afternoon toward camp can lead to bushwhacking, bees and other problems when the camp turns out to be another group on the opposite side of the river. When bored, braid!

36 Gazette 201132

Inflatable kayaks. Mule Canyon. Hiking under rocks to a waterfalls. Sliding down a rock. Jumping off a rock. Hitting rocks. Bouncing off rocks. Skipping rocks. A rocky start.

37 33

Does anyone here know where to find Alameda Bar & Grill?Are there any bears here?I can touch that electric fence.Galice, Oregon?

38 Gazette 2011

F&FFriends and Family

Gaze

tte 2

011:

prod

uced

by th

e Tho

mase

s on a

Mac

, as u

sual.

Above: Michael Teixido prepares gourmet treasures for evening dining in Wilmington, Delaware.Below: Visiting former roommate Dan Wolf and family in Colorado Springs, Colorado during a winter gymnastics competition.

Above: A visit to Fermin & Paty in Polanco, Mexico City. The highlight was the breakfast pastries and coffee at Matisse, on a trip where an early season cold put me in bed for almost 24 hours straight.

39

W hen traveling, friends and family make for great destinations. From Toronto to Mexico City; From Colorado Springs to Baltimore we dropped in.

Sometimes the stops are associated with work, sometimes a scenic desti-nation and other times a foot of fresh snow demands a pause in travel before returning to the airport.

Right: I dropped in on my sister, Lane Thom-as, whose home burned (or more technically drowned by fire hoses) last December. We are outside at midnight in the new snowfall in Baltimore, Maryland.Below: Visiting Stephen Sienko in Toronto.Far Below: Richard Sienko and Stephanie Sienko on the same Toronto trip.

40 Gazette 2011

Hosting visitors in Portland continues. Nuria del Val Huerta, a high school student from Madrid, Spain, spent three weeks

with our family in June. It was a good excuse to head outdooors camping, swim in the Columbia river in the morning and play in the snow at Timberline Lodge in the afternoon.

Visitors

41

Monique Verguts made my acquantaince last year at a London conference and we discussed fel-lowship opportunities. She spent a few weeks studying with me this summer, then joined us for our southern Oregon raft trip before heading on to study with several other colleagues around the country. A summer ENT conference visited the Pittock Mansion (above) in Portland for a din-ner reception. She had returned to Belgium to build her own laryngology practice.

Below: our favorite campground in the Columbia Gorge - Herman Creek.

42 Gazette 2011

MumbaiIndia

Travelers talesby James

W andering a crowded Square, a man asked if I wanted to dance. My head was a little foggy as I arrived in Barcelona with a head cold. Travel and illness seem

go together, but this is the middle of summer. How is it possible that I have a head cold and runny nose?

Through Lonely Planet I discov-ered a beautiful guesthouse on the 5th floor along the Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes in Barcelona, then I spent the first day in bed. Late the next morning, I summon the energy to go for a walk, putting my camera with my favorite lens into my backpack to avoid being noticed too much as a tourist until I really want to take some photos. My Canon 200mm lens seems to sig-nal that I am either a photojournalist or I am a well-heeled tourist.

With the camera tucked away, I savored a coffeehouse, tasted the fine chocolates, shopped for gifts, wan-dered into old cathedrals, stepped over the beggars and now outside the Santa Maria del Mar cathedral, I decide it is not so crowded that I cannot get out my camera and record some of the wonderful Barcelona architecture.

I decline the card held out to me by the tall man in jeans with button up shirt, appearing to be in his late 30’s. A few minutes later he reappears right in front of me and forces the business card into my hand.

“There is a salsa dance tonight on

the Rambla,” he states.As I decline the card, he rather em-

phatically demands of me, “Don’t you like women!?” He moves his left leg in between mine and wraps it around my right leg, sliding it up. “Spanish women dance like this, you know?”

My lens cap falls to the ground. I sometimes fail to put it deep enough in my pocket. I reach down to pick it up.

“Sorry, I am not interested.” I reply and I notice that the business card is for a jewellery store. I grasp my pocket. My iPhone is still in my front pocket. I still have my wallet.

My tissues are gone! A pickpocket! While distracting me with his leg, his hand was in my pocket and he came away with the wad of tissues I had for my runny nose and they had caught my camera lens on the way out.

He headed over to the church to chat with the beggar - or offer him my tissues. I rather suspect they were working the crowds together.

I guess that if your camera is going to shout TOURIST, then pack a wad of tissues in your pocket for the needy locals, preferably used.

43

Above left: Teaching anatomy lab, I channel Marilyn Monroe.Above right: A festival in Mumbai where you earn your money by climbing a human tower and breaking open a pot of coins before being doused in water to cool off.Below: conference organizer Nupur Nerukar operating on vocal cords.

MumbaiIndia

44 Gazette 201144

Goa in Monsoon

45 45

in Montana

Writing and wandering during the monsoon in Goa, India, pockets of intense color perforated the verdant green.

46 Gazette 2011

New Sport

Gardeningby James

47

I took up tennis last autumn to give something new a try. In November, I entered the Mac Club doubles 3.0 tournament at the very last moment. With luck,

a good partner and a bit of perserverence, Bob Fischer & I won my first trophy in many years.

New Sport

48 Gazette 2011

To be alive

Piano Man