How Our Winnie the Pooh Doctor Saved the Life of My Wife Anne to Eat Sushi Another Day
We call our “family doctor” Trespassers W in honour of a signpost fragment that recurs in the wonderful children’s stories featuring Winnie the Pooh, the iconic stuffed bear.
Here is why our sawbones is so named:
Strip Mall Medicine in Ottawa, Ontario, Part Two: The Plot Thickens – Robert McBryde
How did Trespassers W save Anne, so she might wage combat against her terminal brain cancer another day?
At the beginning of the month of May, Anne began to space out and say things that were slightly bizarre, charming things like “it’s time to take the light rail” when we were ready to sleep, or “I hope our new apartment has nice neighbours and Wi-Fi like this one” when we had no plans for moving.
I knew something was amiss but lapsed into denial. Anne has always been distracted and a tad eccentric. She wasn’t made for a world of electronic devices, which she refers to as appliances.
But a mere six days after these red flags began to flap, Anne collapsed in our bathroom.
I phoned Trespassers W and he ordered me to accompany her to the Emergency Ward at Ottawa Civic Hospital. He also insisted that she be seen to right away.
With his forceful exhortation as impetus, the hospital staff rallied; several MRIs confirmed that she had an enormous brain tumour; and she was scheduled for near immediate emergency surgery.
Without the advice and intervention of Trespassers W, Anne may have perished within a few days.
Glioblastoma, brain tumour that took Gord Downie’s life, tough to treat, doctors say | CBC News
With the tumour removed and radiation and chemotherapy treatments on the horizon, we hope to keep our beloved Anne with us for at least a year longer, if not more.
Thanks to Trespassers W, a loss was avoided that we could not “bear.”
Your friend,
Robert
https://robertmcbrydeauthor.com/
Here are more links to bilingual blog entries and articles about Anne and her terminal cancer:
Glioblastoma and Bohemian Waxwings: Birds for Anne – Robert McBryde
The Art of Love: A song for Anne – Robert McBryde
Childhood Meatloaf and Anne/ Le pain de viande de l’enfance et Anne – Robert McBryde
My wife Anne has brain cancer/ Mon épouse Anne est atteinte d’un cancer du cerveau – Robert McBryde
https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/glioblastoma-1.4361814
https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/gord-downie-obit-1.4359906
https://www.braintumour.ca/fr/types_de_tumeurs_cerebrales/glioblastome/
https://canadaehx.com/2022/10/08/gord-downie/
https://glioblastomafoundation.org/
https://sunnybrook.ca/content/?page=about-gord-downie-fund-brain-cancer
https://www.braincancercanada.ca/
List of people with brain tumors – Wikipedia
Videos about Gord Downie:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i51CPPminbM
Mike Downie made a documentary about one of Canada’s most iconic bands, but it wasn’t easy. The filmmaker tells the story behind The Tragically Hip: No Dress Rehearsal (Prime Video) and the challenges that came with revisiting the memory of its frontman — and his late brother — Gord, who succumbed to glioblastoma in 2017.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXD-gpmb1Us
Your friend,
Robert
https://robertmcbrydeauthor.com/
