dr. zhen.

We have grown to really like Dr. Zhen. He is an exceptionally brilliant man and if radiation is a requirement, we are thankful to have him doing it.  On our weekly visits with him, he has taken the time to tell us bits about himself.  He is Chinese but went to college in Japan, where he learned German as well as English for his Medical School classes.  It is hard to keep track of all his degrees but I think he did an extra internship in Neurology as well.  He is very devoted to is work.  He stays a young looking 52 by running every day by balancing his time for his family and himself after being a confessed work-aholic for many years.  He is a marathon runner and has a goal to run one in as many states as possible.  He has 26 states under his belt so far!  Mike was wearing his St. Louis Marathon T-shirt the other day so Dr. Zhen asked about it.  He ran St. Louis in 2008.

He was away at a Radiation Medical Conference this past week and we were amazed how much we missed his presence at the Med Center.  He was back on Friday and shared that he got to see Dr. Wade Thorstad (our St. Louis radiologist).  They will be working on some research together and co-authoring a chapter in a book.  He said they had some fun banter since Dr. Z told him that "he tried to send us back to him".  He also said that he had not seen Dr. Thorstad in four years and didn't know he was bald already.   (We could have told him that.)  It was heart warming to me when Dr. Zhen commented that it was hard to be away and is hard for him to relax since he is leaving patients during their treatment cycles.  "It is not like a surgeon who finishes their work with the surgical procedure. With radiation the care is on-going."  He won my confidence another increment with that.