TWO THUMBS UP FOR DOCTOR SKARO....THE 'HEAD HONCHO' HIMSELF

 OUR BRAINS WERE FEELING MUCH LIKE A JIGSAW PUZZLE BEFORE TALKING TO THE DOCTOR

Let me just say, we really, really, liked the Doctor we talked to today.  His name is Anton Skaro and in his own words, he is the 'Head Honcho'.  

 A COUPLE T-SHIRTS WE SAW IN A DISPLAY CASE ON THE FOURTH FLOOR MULTI-ORGAIN TRANSPLANT UNIT

Rained all night and most of the day but at least our temps reached 60F.  Dropped Pheebs off at Richard and Gayle's about 9:30.  It was 10:16 when Kelly and I climbed into the Subaru and headed for London's University Hospital.  It rained hard for half of the journey but by the time we reached London, we were driving through patches of sunshine.  A good omen.  We were within the hospital's confines by 12:30.  

 HEAVY RAIN AT TIMES ON OUR WAY TO LONDON

 WET WET WET

 I DON'T KNOW WHAT THEY ARE DOING HERE BUT IT'S GOTTA BE MUDDY

Kelly's first appointment was with the dietician lady at the stroke of high noon.  A very nice lady as she went over Kelly's eating program.  She was pleased with what Kelly has been doing which showed up on the weight scale. Kelly was up nearly 2 pounds.  Our appointment with Dr. Skaro wasn't until 1:30 so after finishing up with the dietician lady we headed for the hospital's cafeteria on the 3rd floor.  Kelly had a big slice of pizza and I had a  6-inch Tuna Sub.  We split a ginger ale.  From the 3rd floor cafeteria, we took the elevator to the hospital's eighth floor where Dr. Skaro hangs out.  

 HEADING INTO UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL ALONG A COLORFUL WALK-WAY

 WAITING TO SEE THE DIETICIAN LADY

 A STOP AT THE CAFETERIA

We were not in the Doctor's outer waiting room long before being called into the inner waiting room where Dr. Skaro came in shortly after.  (and yes, I thought of his probable nicknames being Dr. Scario or Dr. Scarecrow).  He swept into the room with the presence of a traveling tornado.  We were immediately engulfed in a strong confident personality and we knew right off the bat this guy was a straight shooter.....and that was comforting.  No namby pamby sugar coating with this fella.  He exuded assurance in spades and that is what both Kelly and I needed.  And, if you do any research into this fella he has well earned that confidence.  He's a smart cookie with the most good brains and he knows it.  Now, I can't explain to you what he all said to us today, which was a lot, so I will try to break some of it down as best as I can.  He right away dispelled a number of misconceptions and misinterpretations Kelly and I were under.  For example, the age limit thing being 75 was totally wrong.  There is no age limit of being too young or too old.  It all depends on the individual.  He said the oldest liver patient transplant he has done was 84.  Although Kelly is officially on the transplant list there are still more tests ahead and Kelly still has more weight to gain.  Anti-body numbers are going to be crucial as are a few other things which any one of them could kick her off the list.  So, if comparing Kelly's liver transplant to a traffic light, Kelly is amber right now.  She doesn't have a green light to proceed to a transplant yet but she doesn't have a red light either that would bring everything to a transplant stop.  Kelly has to get her weight and strength up and the Doctor was very encouraging for Kelly to do that.  Also, further tests will be required of Kelly's anonymous liver donor to see how closely the donor and Kelly's test numbers match and that is going to be a biggy.  He explained all this to us but for me to explain it to you would be like trying to explain the workings of the Universe.  We are so grateful to the donor who has stepped forward and has already gone ahead with some early tests.  Much, much, more was talked about today with Doctor Skaro and maybe over the next few days and weeks, more things will come to mind about what he said.  So, here is the bottom line....both Kelly and I are greatly encouraged by this man's words and positive demeanor.  The future is still very unclear but we do feel we made significant progress today and that is worth a big 'Yahouie Louie':))))

 IN THE OUTER WAITING ROOM

 NICE VIEW OUT OF THE WAITING ROOM'S  WINDOW LOOKING SOUTHEAST TOWARDS DOWNTOWN LONDON WITH PART OF THE HOSPITAL COMPLEX VISIBLE ON THE RIGHT

 LOOKING EAST WITH ONE OF TWO PARKING GARAGES TOP LEFT AND DIRECTLY BELOW ME IS THE UNSEEN MAIN ENTRANCE TO THE HOSPITAL

WE ARE IN THE INNER WAITING ROOM WAITING FOR DOCTOR SKARO TO COME IN.....KELLY CHECKS HER NOTES AND QUESTIONS

We had a nice drive home going over the  Doctor's words, his encouragement, his straightforwardness, and his strong presence.  Both Kelly and I agreed if either one of us were undergoing a very serious surgery, this is the Doctor we would want doing that surgery.  A stop at Lucan's Tim Hortons for a couple coffees to go.  I felt so good about our day that I splurged and had a carrot muffin.  Dropped Kelly off at home then slipped over to Richard's and drove him to Goderich to pick up a rental car while his van is in the garage.  Back to Richards, I picked up the happy little Pheebs and we headed for home.  It was a good day with things going much better in London than we had feared:))   

 THIS LITTLE CHAP WITH THE BARE FEET WAS HAVING QUITE A BOUNCY RIDE ON MOM'S ARM ACROSS THE TIM HORTON PARKING LOT

Al's Music Box:)) He Ain't Heavy He's My Brother is a 1969 song released as a single by the Hollies.   In a 1918 publication by Ralph Waldo Trine titled The Higher Powers of Mind and Spirit, Trine relates the following anecdote: "Do you know that incident in connection with the little Scottish girl? She was trudging along, carrying as best she could a boy younger, but it seemed almost as big as she herself, when one remarked to her how heavy he must be for her to carry, when instantly came the reply: 'He's na heavy. He's mi brither.'"  The Hollies recorded the song in June 1969 at the EMI Studios (now Abbey Road Studios), with Allan Clarke on lead vocals. Elton John, who was working as a session musician at the time, played the piano on the song.

GROANER'S CORNER:(( The new employee stood before the paper shredder looking confused.  "Need some help?" a secretary asked.  "Yes," he replied. "How does this thing work?"  "Simple," she said, taking the fat report from his hand and feeding it into the shredder.

----------------------------------After the fall, Adam was walking with his sons Cain and Abel. As they were passing the locked gates of the Garden of Eden, one of the boys asked, “What’s this?”Adam replied, “Boys, that’s where your mother ate us out of house and home.”

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One night at the dinner table, the wife commented, 'When we were first married, you took the small piece of steak and gave me the larger. Now you take the large one and leave me the smaller.
Don't love me anymore?' 'Nonsense, darling,' replied the husband, 'you just cook better now.'

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IF SO, WE ARE UP FOR THE STRESSFUL CHALLENGES

TIS A MAGIC TIME OF YEAR AND ESPECIALLY SO IN THE FOREST

The best part of our day again was the 60F+ temperatures along with a few wandering sun splashes.  It was well after dark Tuesday night when I slipped outside to sprinkle some birdseed on our bird station for the morning rush.  How beautiful the night sky was with clouds scudding across a big half Moon.  It was so mild that I heard a couple of Peeper Frogs and it reminded me so much of early Spring.  I had to get a grip and shake myself back into the reality of late October.

 SOME OF TODAY'S PHOTOS WERE TAKEN YESTERDAY AND SOME OF THEM WERE TAKEN THIS MORNING

 A QUIET STREAM

 ANOTHER SIDE VIEW MIRROR PHOTO

Richard and I and Pheebs went for a little toot this morning.  Richard's van is in the Canadian Tire garage in Goderich for a repair and he needed a ride to go and get it.  Halfway there the garage phoned saying it needed an additional part which wouldn't be in until Thursday.  With that, we turned around and headed back to Richard's place where of course we sat chatting about things we so often injoyably chat about.

 A WASCALLY WOODPECKER AT OUR SUET FEEDER THIS AFTERNOON

 AND THIS IS MY NIKON COOLPIX P900 THAT I TAKE MY BIRD PHOTOS WITH   

Home again, I had thought about turning our outside water off but with temperatures predicted to be over 70F the next few days, the water shut off can wait.  Dodging the odd raindrop I spent another couple of enjoyable hours outside today putzing, puttering, and piddling around.  Hey, that sounds like a title for a book.  I cut down all our bamboo grass which, if left standing through the winter, has a habit of dropping its long whitish ribbon-like leaves which blow around all over the place giving things a messy look.  Out of pine needles I am now concentrating on raking up all the fallen maple leaves.  With every maple leaf raked up now means one less maple leaf I have to rake up in the Spring.

 A LAYER OF MAPLE LEAVES AROUND OUR FROG POND'S FLOWER BED

 AND I DO HAVE A GOOD SUPPLY OF MAPLE LEAVES WITH MANY MORE TO COME

 STARTING ON ANOTHER TRAILER LOAD OF YARD WASTE FOR THE PARK'S RECYCLE AREA

 THE LAST OF THREE CRATES OF CLEANING AND MAINTENANCE SUPPLIES TO BE TAKEN INSIDE FOR THE WINTER

 MY FROG-CATCHING PAIL NOW DOUBLES AS MY CORN-GATHERING PAIL IF THEY EVER GET THE CORN HARVEST UNDERWAY

Thursday morning Kelly and I head back to London's University Hospital for what seems like yet another 'make or break' meeting, this time being with the head surgeon guy who we have heard is a hard-nosed no nonsense fellow.  It's anybody's guess where we will be after this meeting.  He will either reject the liver transplant outright or we'll continue with the stressful challenges of barrels and hoops to jump over and crawl through.  If so, we are up for the stressful challenges.       

 OUR FRONT YARD HYDRANGEA TREE IS STILL BLOOMING

Al's Music Box:)) Alley Cat by Bent Fabric was a 1962 single release.  

GROANER'S CORNER:(( A boy was assigned a paper on childbirth and asked his parents, "How was I born?"  "Well honey..." said the slightly prudish parent, "the stork brought you to us."  "Oh," said the boy. "Well, how did you and daddy get born?" he asked.  "Oh, the stork brought us too."  "Well how were grandpa and grandma born?" he persisted.  "Well darling, the stork brought them too!" said the parent, by now starting to squirm a little in the Lazy Boy recliner.  Several days later, the boy handed in his paper to the teacher who read with confusion the opening sentence: "This report has been very difficult to write because there hasn't been a natural childbirth in my family for three generations."

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It's scary when you start making the same noises as your coffee maker.

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MAYBE I'M JUST MOVING AROUND A LOT SLOWER THAN I USED TO MOVE AROUND

 ON BAYFIELD RIVER ROAD ABOUT A MILE EAST OF OUR PARK

Another fine late October morning with temps in the high 50sF.  Sunshine and a light breeze found Pheebs and I at our country road walking spot for the second day in a row.

I'M STILL NOT SEEING ANY SIGNS OF THE CORN HARVEST  GETTING INTO GEAR AND THERE IS MORE RAIN ON THE WAY AS EARLY AS WEDNESDAY

A SCHOOL BUS SHELTER AT THE END OF A FARM LANE

 A NICE STAND OF BIRCH TREES

 CANADA GEESE

I started trimming back an overgrown tree Monday afternoon alongside where we always parked our RVs.  Wanting to finish that job and get all those branches to the Park's recycling area I continued with that project this morning as soon as we got back from our walk.  It's a good thing I bought a new blade for my Swede Saw last week.

Kelly's dietician lady called her today saying when we come to London on Thursday to see the head surgeon guy, she would like to talk to Kelly.  That means we will be leaving mid-morning instead of later.  Had it just been the Doctor appointment we would have taken Pheebs but instead Pheebs will go over to Richard and Gayles now for a few hours.    

 HAD I KEPT THIS TREE TRIMMED YEARS AGO I COULD HAVE SAVED MYSELF A LOT OF WORK

A BIG LOAD OF TREE BRANCHES

 NOW RESTRICTED TO A SMALL AREA IN OUR PARK'S RECYCLE AREA I DIDN'T HAVE A LOT OF ROOM TO BACK IN AND YES I DID GET A MUDDY SOAKER

 WITH ALL THE SOFT MUD HERE I WAS COMFORTED BY THE THOUGHT THAT THE JEEP IS FOUR WHEEL DRIVE IN CASE I NEEDED TO USE IT

As it turned out I spent about four hours outside today doing some leaf raking and a number of other piddly little things.  I don't know where all the time goes but maybe I'm just moving around a lot slower than I used to move around.  Maybe even some slow motion going on eh:((    

Al's Music Box:)) Money For Nothing by the Dire Straits in 1985 from their album, 'Brothers In Arms'.    According to Knopfler, he was in New York City and had visited an appliance store. At the back of the store was a wall of televisions which were all tuned to MTV. Knopfler said that standing next to him, watching the TVs, there was a male employee, dressed in a baseball cap, work boots, and a checkered shirt, who was delivering boxes. As they were watching MTV, as Knopfler recalled, the man came out with lines such as, "What are those, Hawaiian noises?... That ain't workin'," etc. Knopfler then requested a pen to write some of these lines down, and eventually put them to music.

GROANER'S CORNER:((  The United Nations sent out a survey to every country, asking "Would you please share your honest opinion about solutions to the food shortage in the rest of the world?"  The survey flopped pretty much everywhere.

In Africa, families were confused about what "food" was.
Eastern Europeans watching state TV didn't know what "honest" meant.
In Western Europe, they didn't know what "shortage" meant.
People watching in China didn't know what an "opinion" was.
In the war torn areas of Afghanistan and the Middle East, they didn't know what "solution" meant.
People in South America didn't know what "please" meant.
People in Russia reading the survey knew what "share" meant.
Finally, Americans didn't know what "the rest of the world" meant.

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Little Johnny's preschool class went on a field trip to the fire station.The firefighter   giving the presentation held up a smoke detector and asked the class:  "Does anyone know what this is?"  Little Johnny's hand shot up and the firefighter called on him.  Little Johnny replied: "That's how Mommy knows supper is ready!"

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Why was the United Nations concerned when the waitress dropped the platter on Thanksgiving?  It meant the fall of Turkey, the ruin of Greece, and the breakup of China.
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