Wonderful Book

I love this book I am reading, Looptail by Bruce Poon Tip, founder of G Adventures tour company. It is a business book, autobiography and so much more. He speaks of passion and purpose in life and it is both interesting and inspiring.

In other news I took my mom to the cardiologist yesterday for her 6 month checkup. It was a good one and so the next one is scheduled for another 6 months in October. That seems so far away, I hope she will remain stable until then. The doctor remarked that her heart is more stable than her memory loss, true enough.

The ECG technologist had to knock on the door to find my mom sitting on the table all dressed. She didn't seem to know it was time to leave the room after she was dressed. Then an older man went into the room. His wife told me he was 84 and had trouble hearing even with his hearing aid now. It meant he was having trouble communicating with the technologist.

Anyway, my mom and I went for a nice lunch afterward.  The day was so nice and sunny we just wore sweaters.

At the Cardiologist

Here is a good quote from Darwin:

I took my mom to the cardiologist for her 6 month checkup, it went well, the next appointment is in 6 months.  I  noticed he didn't order an echo or ecg for next time, I think it must be cutbacks in the government health system.

While my mom was getting her ecg (this takes a bit longer than an echocardiogram), I decided to jump onto the office scale.  I complained to this middle-aged gentleman sitting nearby  about my weight as I got off the scale.  He said 'subtract 3 pounds for your shoes and clothing'.  We laughed and I told him that made me feel a lot better.  (I'm actually not overweight, just weight-conscious).  He told me he was a Trinidadian immigrant and spoke of the crime there since the oil boom in that island within the past 15 or so years.  Then he went into his appointment.

A fit-looking man (I would guess he was in his forties) then came to sit beside me.  We started chatting and  it came up that  he had had  a heart attack a year ago while travelling in Japan on business. He was in a rural area jogging at 5.30 am in the morning. He stopped a lady in a car but they  couldn't communicate. An elderly couple walking by called emergency and he was able to get to a hospital.  He says the health care in Japan was excellent, it may be better than in Canada.   The Trinidadian man by this time had lost his wallet somehow and was scurrying around.  He eventually located it in the doctor's office.  The younger man went into his appointment.

Then a frail-looking senior lady came in with her husband. We chatted and she told me she had a heart attack 6 or 7 years ago and  now she has got Parkinsons disease. Then it was time for my mom's appointment.  We found out the doctor's kids are already 10 and 15 years old.  He needs a new photo on display!

The conversation was a welcome distraction in a busy day and I was happy to meet some nice people.