Tonight's picture was taken on October 7 of 2007. We took Mattie to a park alongside the Potomac River that weekend. As you can see Peter brought along a soccer ball. He was trying to encourage Mattie to develop his skills as a player. Mattie was more like me, in that he was intrigued by the dogs and the people in the park, but he did play with Peter because he loved his "daddy" time. Peter never pressured Mattie to do a particular activity, he tried to expose Mattie to a host of different things so that Mattie could figure out what he liked and what interested him.
Quote of the day: Nobody sees a flower - really - it is so small it takes time - we haven't time - and to see takes time, like to have a friend takes time. ~ Georgia O'Keeffe
I finally had the opportunity today to see a nephrologist. Which seemed like a feat in and of itself, since his receptionist last week told me that his next opening wasn't for several months. Somehow the stars and planets aligned and I was seen today. This particular specialist is in his 70's and in my opinion is an old world doctor. Some how either medicine was taught differently back then, or we have lost something in the translation now. This doctor spent an hour with me and actually sat down, had a conversation, listened, took a thorough history, and we learned something about each other. Before he even came in the room, he knew from my file through my other doctor's office that I lost Mattie through cancer. He made a note of that! What a concept! Not only did he make a note of that, but we discussed it and he also observed my Pandora bracelet and when I told him it was a memory bracelet in honor of Mattie, I thought he was going to lose it! He couldn't handle the subject matter.
I discussed kidney stones, the next assessments he would like done, and what I need to do moving forward before my next appointment. But what I loved about him is he held my hand and told me that his job is to worry about this problem and to make sure other stones to do arise again. My job is to implement the strategy he creates. He literally walked me to the door of the office and told me he was available any time to consult with me. At which point I told him, we needed to clone him and by the way his office staff are just as delightful as he is! He has restored my faith in doctors! Occasionally you find a golden egg in the basket and when you do you really see how lacking the others are! This personal attention, compassion, and being treated as a person makes a huge difference! This is the art of medicine and it has a lot to do with the science of healing.
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I continued to write today, though I wasn't as productive as yesterday and the day before. So I plan on writing tonight, in hopes of getting more done. Nonetheless, while writing this afternoon, that wonderful monarch butterfly that I saw on Tuesday flew by Mattie's window and it brought a smile to my face! Several Mattie signs were all around me today and I don't take them for granted!
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