Day 211 - Black Diamond

Today I had an appointment with my GP, Dr. Dowdall. I was pondering life the other day & thought they should make a 'Physician of the Year' award. Dr. Dowdall would get my vote! In any case, patients could go online to a website, click off the criteria their Physician met or exceeded & cast their vote. Then we could have a big black tie awards night & give due recognition to the good doctors out there! Patients could leave comments & after the voting deadline was past, the comments could be published in a book & presented to the Physician. 


It's nice to meet a Doctor who actually cares about your wellbeing. Not that most of them don't, it's just their personalities could use a little nudging to the 'I care & I am happy' side of things. So that's my idea... 


Back to Black Diamond... I was a few minutes late & had hardly sat down in the very busy waiting room when the nurse called my name. When I saw Dr. Dowdall in November, he had an Intern working with him. I confused her & eventually Dr. Dowdall answered all of my questions. She saw me today & I think I jogged her mind, as she right away asked if I needed to see him. Of course I said yes. 


Dr. Dowdall showed up & we had a lengthy chat. I was interested in getting a second opinion, although he didn't think it would happen in such short time. I told him about my studies, Bleomycin, the complications, the chemo sensitivity test, Dr. Canellos & so forth. Basically he told me that no Doctor would tell me that it would be okay to omit one of the drugs from the chemo regimen. He also told me that I was a very well informed patient & at present I understood more about the drugs than he did. I felt good about that! My homework was helping me! (I think!) He suggested I speak with a Pharmacist at Tom Baker & see what they could tell me about Bleomycin & its role in ABVD. 


He told me to keep in touch & let him know how I was doing. I'm sure he'll see me before the end of the summer! I only wish he was an Oncologist, as he's very committed to his job & he does it in a way that makes you feel like you are a person & not a number. 


After the appointment, I made my way to the pet shop. I needed some more raw food & the gal was most helpful. I picked up Cesar's other book & look forward to learning a little bit more! I also stopped in at the local art gallery & to my surprise, the folks that have been running it have sold it & are hitting the high road! They are travelling to the 'End of the World' - well, South America. I'm so excited for them! Of course we chatted for awhile & I am all for chasing one's dreams with a vengeance, especially if it involves traveling to do so! They don't leave until January, so I'm hoping to be in touch & find out more of their itinerary! 


I walked around the main street for a bit & then made my way home. I took the back way from Black Diamond to Millarville. It's a lovely drive with fantastic views. I must say, this neck of the woods is stunning come summer time when everything is green & the mountains are still snow capped. Pretty tough to beat! 


The little girls were excited to see me when I arrived home. We went for a walk to the highway & back & they were very well behaved! Valentina always needs a little coaxing up the big hill. I think she expects to go all the way to EVIC before returning home! 


Okay, sleep tight & here's to a wonderful tomorrow!
Maria & Valentina 
xxxxx

Great old sign

Pocket Garden - what a neat idea!

I've never heard of it before! But my thumb is NOT green.

Main street in Black Diamond

Looking the other way... Nice & quiet.