Posted on 02.13.10 by Michelle Look, MD 

Hello All!

Well I survived the trek to Whistler after being repeatedly asked if I was on the speed skating team. Seriously, Asians can do more than speed skate. Arrived in Vancouver and guess who is there? The US speedskating team. Fit right in, swooped through customs and immigration with no bag check of my drugs, nice, and rode the bus next to Dr. Eric Heiden. Went through processing with none other than Apollo Ohno, who despite the star attention he was getting, is very funny and witty. I didn't tell him my time up the Incline in Colorado Springs was 3 times longer than his. Ralph Laurens lead design team was again at processing and I chatted up with one of the designers I recalled from Beijing. He also thought I was on the speed skating team. Really? Is my butt that big? He said Ralph Lauren personally designed the opening and closing ceremony attire for the team. He started outfitting me with the athletes attire, but the Olympic staff told him doctors didn't get it. He tried to sneak it for me anyway, but no go. Rats. So close.

Now I'm at my new home in Whistler which is absolutely beautiful. The entire athletes village, sports performance center, sliding center and alpine hills are  all within about 5 miles. Parking is a premium. A VANOC pass sells for $15,000. In one week 30 cars were broken into for these passes. We now have to carry them with us when we leave. I have one  but even with a pass there is no where to park. So we rely on public transportation. It is more fun anyway and the buses come every 4 minutes.

The high performance center is right across the street from the Olympic village. We have set up  Chiro, massage, diagnostic and therapeutic ultrasound, several types of lasers, icebaths for the sledders on the balcony, and a treatment room fully equipped for me. IT has been here for a week setting up live feeds from all of the VANOC cameras and 5 workstations with flatscreens are up for the coaches. Last night a semi arrived with food and 5 chefs for our safehouses where athletes in particular, US Ski, will stay outside of the village. Now, we wait for the athletes. Most will arrive in the next day or two.

In the meantime, I have taken it upon myself to make sure the USA House was prepared for medical emergencies. USA House is our VIP center where corporate sponsors like the President of CocaCola, Nike, GE etc.hang out and come in the evenings for medal ceremonies and athlete presentations. The house USA rented is a 4 bedroom multimillion dollar mansion that sits on a 5 acre piece of property and is completely made of wood. The sinks are made of copper bowls and there is a huge open kitchen(Viking 8 burner range, nice) where various chefs from across the US will be cooking each night. There is even an outdoor sauna built  into the rock mountain and a 16 person sunken hottub. The Medical Director and I stopped by just to make sure they knew we were available. heh heh.

In all seriousness, it is amazing to be here. The Olympic staff has been working so hard to make sure every aspect of an athletes needs has been taken care of so they can focus on their performance. Now all we need to do is bring home the medals.

Go USA!