Catch-up with Michael

Rosie and I flew to Sydney on Tuesday night and stayed at Faith and Robert's place in Mosman ahead of our Wednesday morning follow-up appointment with Michael Morgan. We went to Macquarie a little early so we could have two of their magnificent hot chocolates and a game of Gin for old times' sake in the hospital cafe.




It was great to have Michael in the same room again to talk to about all sorts of stuff. Rosie and I both had lists of questions on our phone and iPad and he went through them all with us very thoroughly. He even told us about his colleague's AVM research which is still at the rat stage but will probably be reaching human trials in the next few years. Depending on what the advice is from Mike Link and Bruce Pollock at Mayo, this stuff may be of interest to Rosie further down the track if her AVM persists. He thinks it shouldn't be too much longer till he hears from them after their physicists have had enough time with all of Rosie's material. Michael advised us to go over and actually meet and speak with Mike and Bruce whether we decided to do the treatment here or there (that is if it's advisable in the end).
I'm doing a guest concertmaster week with the SSO in early June and I was able to offer Michael a couple of comp tickets for him and his wife to come to one of the concerts as a small gesture of thanks for the great care he gave and continues to give Rosie, including being so accessible to us by mobile or email. He was tickled pink. After our appointment it was Rosie's plan that we should have some beach time before heading back to the airport (she already had her bikini on under her dress). We took Michael's advice and went to Balmoral beach which was gorgeous. Rosie took the plunge but I hadn't planned on swimming so just paddled up to my knees.







A fisherman's basket across the road at the local fish and chippery was the perfect late lunch then we drove out to the airport.




In a couple of days we'll be flying again, this time the whole family to NZ for a big Peter clan knees-up to celebrate all kinds of 60ths including his parents' 60th wedding anniversary. 114 rellies will descend upon the tiny town of Blackball, where Peter's Mum was raised.