FEAR......Is It A Good Thing?

And just like that I'm a statistic. It took a while but the world caught up with me. I see on Compass, although the rumor mill already had it, that Dr. Alexander MacKinnon is leaving his practise in Montague. Dr. Magennis has been our family doctor for almost 40 years, ever since he hung his shingle in Souris. He was on hand to deliver our B.J., who turns 37 this year, so we've been together a long time. But he is retiring, or trying to, and we all wish him well, he and Doreen certainly deserve it. And unlike other doctors, he is attempting to divide his practise up, so we won't be without a doctor. Jamie and I were assigned to a new doctor, a young doctor, so we were relieved that we were going to be looked after by a family physician who would be putting down roots. Dr. MacKinnon's name started appearing on our drug refills, so it would only be a matter of time to meet him.

Except that time has run out, he will be gone before we even have a chance to introduce ourselves.

And the long thin icy finger of fear is tracing circles around my heart. What will the future hold? Jamie needs a neurologist. He has patiently been on a wait list, aptly named, the wait is long. Dr. Lecky was the locum neurologist who diagnosed Jamie, but he was no longer needed when PEI received two new neurologists. We are still in limbo. Jamie is also on their wait list. The wait is long there too. He also needs a family doctor for regular check ups, and med adjustments. Now what?

I have always bragged about my good health and made no secret that I think an active lifestyle is at least partly to credit. I love my walks, bike rides, shore hikes, woods roads, any new walk that you can name. My buddy and I were feeling bored one day last summer, so we took a drive to town to walk the Hillsboro Bridge pedestrian path, from the city to Stratford and back. Epic! When I was young there was nothing I wouldn't try, from jumping over the cliff into snowbanks, jumping and poling icecakes, to a 25k bike ride just for fun. (and that was just last year........) I maintain a healthy diet for both Jamie and me, we eat well. Could I lose a few pounds? Absolutely! But it doesn't seem eager to disappear, and what the hell, who can trust a skinny cook....

But my concern over the loss of my doctor puts me in fear mode. It's never been more important to take care of one's self, there's no one else to do it. As for my bandaged finger, well, it's a start.

I need check ups too, I have minor issues that can be BIG issues without care and attention. But I try very hard to remain positive and trust that things will work out.

These last few years have not been kind to us. To society. To our friends and families. 2019 was a normal year; it's been anything but since. Let's not go back to talking about the pandemic, but the virus is still with us. We are learning to live with it, kind of like living with that alcoholic uncle that you can't stand or trust, and just count the days til he frigs off somewhere else and leaves you alone. And hopefully he's gone forever and never comes back.. That's Covid.

During the lockdowns, I drank the Koolade just like everyone else. I distanced. I masked. I washed my hands and produced artisan soaps (tongue firmly in cheek) specifically to target the virus. I stopped short, however, of washing my eggs, my cereal boxes, my bread bags after grocery shopping. I'm sorry, Dr. Morrison, but that was over the line. Talk about mistrust. I listened to the rules, got the advice, got the vaccine, got the boosters. And soon enough, I got Covid too. Luckily, it was a minor annoyance. And even now, if I see people hugging at the airport or holding hands going in to the movies, I will say, jeez, look at that, two years ago you'd have landed in jail for that behaviour! Five guests for Christmas dinner? Ya, we all drank the Koolade.

Thank god we can laugh about it now, but in all seriousness, folks are still dying from Covid. Every year a certain number of people died from the "normal" flu, that's why Health PEI keeps records, just now we remember the name.

And speaking of names, how many baby girls are being christened Fiona these days? A few? None? Too soon? I think it's a beautiful name, but since Hurricane Fiona was responsible for deaths, that name will no longer be used to name hurricanes.

Wonder how long it'll be before there's a "Hurricane Nova" to come blowing to an Island near you! Hopefully never!

But it sure was a blast. I'm pretty good with words but even I can't describe the nightmare that was Fiona. We expected her to come from the south, so we figured they'd find us somewhere near the Gaspe Peninsula in the morning, but like a cyclone, she shifted and came in straight north. Completely disoriently us in that inky blackness.

I was new to cell phone use at that time, I never saw the need for one that would mitigate the expense. But I gave in and got one, although I rarely use it. And we have a generator, but not to be used til that wind went down, so I was glad that my phone was charged before the weather hit. Through the night, we had a steady 5-way conversation going with all our children at the same time, so it was comforting for us, and certainly for them to stay in contact. It was surreal to say the least. And in the future, we can look back and without actually saying it, we can remember where we were when news of the Pandemic struck. When the news of the war in the Ukraine hit our sleepy little Island. When reports of horrific damage that could be expected when this Hurricane Fiona traveled this far north and made landfall. Chilling events indeed. These things will all make history for future generations to learn from. Will we have learned anything? Probably not, we feel pretty insulated.

So, yes, my thoughts are worried ones, if I stop long enough to think about it. Perhaps, like Scarlett O'Hara, I'll just sign off by saying, "Tomorrow IS another day......."