The Squamidian Report – Aug. 7 / 04

 

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Also in this issue:

The Ontarion

 

Hi All,

 

We had gone into town on the bike to pick up some stuff and I was leaning against a tree waiting for Sue to come out of the store. The constant beeping from a vehicle started to bug me and I looked around to see what was going on. There, behind the wheel of a big fancy SUV sat a yellow Lab type dog. With a proud look of both determination and delight on it’s face and it’s front paws on the wheel, this dog would squiggle it’s back up against the back of the seat for support and then put a paw on the horn section of the wheel and push. As the horn blew, he would bark with excitement as he looked at the store door that his people had gone into. He would then jump into the back seat where he probably was supposed to be and wait expectantly for a few minutes.

 

Once that few minutes had passed and his people had not yet appeared he again jumped into the driver’s seat, squiggled into position and blew the horn again. After several repeated horn blowings, others had noticed this display as well. When his people finally did come out of the store he immediately jumped into the back seat and sat there good as gold. As the owners walked up to their SUV I asked them how the dog had learned to blow the horn. The woman looked at me like I had two heads and dismissed my question as total nonsense. She had no idea what I was talking about, they are unaware of their dogs antics.

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Slowly but surely and probably against the will of the powers that be, Squamish is moving into the present. There has been ongoing construction down at the CTC plaza and we now have a Boston Pizza and an M&M Meats. Both places are very much needed here and will do well IF they can find competent help. There are several other store fronts in the development, don’t know what’s all going in but it will all be welcome. A freestanding building in the same project will be the movie theatre when it opens sometime this fall. It was supposed to be open two years ago but Squamish seems to fight rather than encourage improvements like that.

 

Squamish has been fighting a University that is trying to locate here. That has put the university about three years behind schedule. WalMart and some other big box stores are trying to set up shop here and they keep hitting red tape brick walls. The deeply entrenched thinking process of the local government can’t seem to see beyond industries that exploit natural resources such as logging and mining. They seem satisfied to have the world pass through on its way to Whistler rather than have it stop for a visit. It is frustrating to see a town that is surrounded by so much natural majestic beauty to have its head buried in the past and be striving so hard to stay second rate.

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Hey, we have finally had some very desperately needed rain. This week has been nicely cool with enough precipitation to settle the dust and bring the fire rating down to High from Extreme. Rain means clouds again. Those interesting ones that give the mountains a very defined three-dimensional look. The mountains look higher when their tops poke up above the clouds and the valleys and canyons look deeper. One morning on the way to Whistler, Paradise Valley below the highway up by the Swift Creek Lookout was filled with cloud. As the highway dipped down it dipped into the cloud layer. The edge of the cloudbank formed a slanting roof over the road giving a kind of neat effect. Next week puts us back into clear sunny weather with mid thirty temperatures. Bummer!

 

And just a reminder, this week is the apex of the Perseids Meteor Showers. They actually last from mid July till late August but the height of the display is from about the 7th to the 12th. So if you are out late and the sky is clear, have a look. Best viewing is after midnight with dark clear skies. That shuts me out, I can’t stay up that late. However, I may be able to see some when I get up for work at just past 4.

 

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THE ONTARION REPORT

AUGUST 07, 2004

 

Wow, where is the time going???? It’s August already and it seems like June was only last week. I guess when you keep busy, time flies!

 

I don’t know if any of you remember me telling you about my cousin who is my age that had a kidney transplant 4 years ago. Well, back then I took some holidays and spent the week driving him to and from Hamilton to have his transplant. I then drove him back down to Hamilton General 3 times a week for the following 3 weeks after the operation for checkups. The operation was an amazing success and his wife donated the kidney. It was incredible that she was a close enough match that she was able to be the donor. My cousin’s name is Patrick Hoy and if you have lived in the KW area most of your life, you may just know him or have heard of him. He’s not famous but he is one of those people that everyone seems to have come to know at some point in their lives. Anyhow, he and I have been pretty close all our lives. Of all the kids in our families, he and I stayed in touch the most over the years. Rick (to immediate family members) was 18 years old when he underwent surgery to remove a duodenal ulcer. During the operation the surgeon accidentally nicked the pancreas with the scalpel and Rick woke up the next day as a full blown Diabetic. Oops, sorry ‘bout that was all the surgeon had to say. Needless to say Rick has been on insulin all his adult life, hence the failing kidneys and the kidney transplant. He’s been through one heck of a lot of medical troubles as a result of the surgeon’s carelessness.

 

When he was in Hamilton for one of his checkups just after his transplant, the lady surgeon that did the operation suggested he call Toronto General and talk to the “Multi-organ Transplant team leader” and ask about having a pancreas transplant as well to cure his diabetes. Rick made a call to the clinic in Toronto and was given the impression that he was too old for the pancreatic transplant. So, he resigned himself to the fact that he was lucky to have the kidney and to be alive and healthier as a result. Welllllllllll, last February he was back to Hamilton to have a checkup on the kidney once again and in walked the lady surgeon that had done the transplant. He hadn’t seen her since just after the original work on the kidney. She asked him how he was and then asked if he had gotten in to the pancreas clinic. He said he was told he was too old at the time he first called. He told me that the lady doctor said “That’s utter Bullshit” and stormed out of the room. Ten minutes later she returned with an appointment card for him to take to Toronto General three days later to be assessed for a pancreas transplant. He was dumbfounded to say the least. Three days later he went to Toronto and had some tests done. They called him the following week and told him to come to Toronto and pick up a beeper that he had to carry at all times. He asked why and was told that he was accepted to be on the transplant list and they would beep him when they found a pancreas for him. He was thrilled of course. That was last February and he has been carrying the beeper ever since. Well, didn’t the thing go off two weeks ago this coming Sunday and when he called in to the clinic, he was told he had to be in Toronto General by noon the next day. He was up at Lake Joseph with his wife and 6 year old son on holidays. He got up at 4am and headed back to Kitchener leaving his family up north. Lake Joseph is up near Perry Sound. He was on the operating table by 2pm Monday afternoon.

 

The surgery lasted 6 ½ hrs and was an immediate success! AMAZING to say the least!!!!!!  His dad called me to tell me that Rick was in surgery and wanted me to know what was happening. I called my uncle the next afternoon and he said he had called Toronto and that he spoke to Rick Tuesday morning around 10 am. Rick was in hospital until the following Saturday, 6 days from the time he went in and they told him that he could go home the next day (Sunday). I spoke to Rick this past Monday the second day he was home and he said he felt 99% and couldn’t believe he had eaten 3 pieces of Lemon Drop Cake the night before and his Glucose Reading was NORMAL! What a thrill it must have been for him after 37 years of balancing his meals with his insulin. Carole, Adam and I were so happy for him you would have thought it had happened to one of us! Rick is a great guy and deserves some quality health time after all he’s been through. He asked me if I would take him to Toronto Wednesday for his first checkup and of course I obliged! We arrived in Toronto at 9:30am and by 11:30 am we were on our way home. His checkup was perfect and they even removed the 32 staples from the zipper they made down his front to gain access for the transplant. The doctor told him that they were a little irritating to his incision so they took them out a week early. The doctor told him not to laugh to hard or everything would spill out on the floor. LOL! It was a rewarding day for me as well to see someone I care about reap the benefits of the generosity of such an unselfish act. It makes one rethink the idea of organ donation. Rick is now taking the next couple of weeks to recuperate and then he’ll be back to work, a new man! Rick and I talked about the incredible odds against us that we have both beaten during our trip to Toronto and to say the least, we are two of the luckiest people we know.

 

I wish him many more HEALTHY years ahead and express my thanks on his behalf to people kind enough to sign their Organ Donor Card. What an incredible gift from a stranger, the gift of LIFE!

 

Continued good health to all my fellow Squamidians and thanks for tuning in once more!

 

Talk to you all again next week!

 

Bye for now…….GREG.

 

PS: Something to Think About>

Consider signing a Donor Card, please!

 

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Have a good one..

the doug