Sophie's Story

  This is Scamp. I am writing today's column.     Every morning Colby and I eat some wet cat food and some dry cat food for breakfast. The dry food is served in two small metal dishes near our water dish. (We have a really cool water dish, it's a fountain. I love it. ) A few months ago part of the dry food was in the dishes and the rest was in a food ball. A food ball is a plastic ball with holes in it. There is a way that the holes can be made larger or smaller. The food is inside the ball. The way to get the food out is to roll the ball with your nose or paw. I would eat the food out of the dishes and then go to the food ball and get more. It was kind of fun.   A few weeks ago when I went to eat some dry food the dishes were gone. There was one food ball in their place. I immediately went to Sophie and asked her what was going on.   She explained to me that she and C were trying to eat healthier and she decided that should include Colby and...

   We had just got home where the phone rang. It was Ben from next door. They were going to have a fire and wanted to know if we wanted to come over and roast a few hot dogs with them. We had picked up a pizza on our way home, so C told Ben that we were going to eat and then we'd be over.   I was sort of surprised that they were home this weekend. Like 3/4 of the people who live in Minnesota, they have a cabin that they go to on weekends. (Which makes me wonder, where do people in northern Minnesota have their cabins?) I was looking forward to spending sometime getting to know them better. We always waved to each other when we were coming or going. Our two driveways share an outlet into the street. Ben is very good about pushing the snow away from the entrance after the plow has gone through. C and Ben have talked a bit, but I didn't know either of them very well.   After we got done eating we walked across their yard to where the fire was. I wasn't sure if ...

   She told me that the cancer had come back. I was sad for her, but not surprised. I've seen this happen many times before. We've made great strides in cancer treatment, but cancer is a slippery devil. A few cells can hide themselves and slowly grow until one day they pop out of nowhere like unwelcome guests at a surprise party. That wasn't the worst of the news. The cancer had not only come back, it had also spread. It couldn't be cut away, chemoed away or radiated away. Her future had been cut down to a couple of years.   The next time I saw my tech, Rae, I told her. This customer was one of her favorites. We take good care of all of our customers, but all of us have a couple that we get a bit closer too. I didn't want Rae to be blindsided by this news.   A few days later the customer came in. Rae went to help her. I listened in on as much as I could. I caught a few snippets here  and there. After the customer left, I asked Rae what had happened.   ...

   There are times when I know what I'm going to write about. I have my column written in my head and all I have to do is log in and type. Then there are the days when I have no idea what I'm going to write. Sitting in front of the computer is sometimes excruciating. I've been known to sit in front of the computer for as much as three hours trying to write something that is worth posting. Then there are the days when I have a few ideas, none of them really enough to make an entire column.   Today I've got a few topics that have been rattling around in my head. I'm going to write about them in no particular order. None of them are related to each other. I hope you find them interesting.   This past Sunday I taught in Relief Society. Part of my lesson was on chastity. With that, the topic of modesty came up. Modesty is incredibly out of fashion.   This is something I have never understood. It seems that if you choose to keep you necklines high and your h...

   Today was a really nice day. The alarm went off at 5:15 this morning and I rolled over and shut it off. Since my alarm clock is also my Ipod,I checked my email. There was a little bit of junk mail and one unexpected surprise. I had an email from one of my former interns. She was thinking about her time with me and decided to write.    I seldom hear from an intern after they finish my rotation and recieve thier grade. The last time an intern wrote to me she wanted a reference for a residency. I wrote the required letter, but never heard if she got it or not.   This intern had never written to me before. It was a short newsy letter that detailed some of the travelling she'd been doing. She asked me how I was and what I was doing.   What a nice start to the day! After I read the email, I changed into my workout gear and headed for the eliptical.    C gave me an Ipad for my birthday. Lately I've been using it to watch talks by LDS leaders on ...

   One of the big stories in the news right now is the continuing saga of Kim Davis. For those of you who don't know she is a Kentucky county clerk who refuses to issue marriage licenses to same sex couples. Her reason for doing this is that it violates her beliefs.  This made me think of the healthcare provider conscience clause. These are laws that allow health care providers to opt out of having to perform certain procedures or provide certain products based on personal or religious values. The most common application for this law is to allow physicians refuse to perform abortions and pharmacists to refuse to dispense birth control pills or the "morning after" pill. (After searching the internet, I have not been able to determine if Minnesota has a conscience clause or not.)   I remember many years ago when discussion over these laws was a hot topic in the pharmacy  profession. It was criticized by everyone. Those who opposed the law felt that it wa...

     Early this morning while the rain was pouring outside and the thunder and lightening were keeping me from sleep, I was racking my brain trying to think of something to write about. I was sort  of in a bad mood because I had discovered that a family member (not C) had lied to me. If you know me at all then you know that this is a special irritation of mine.  I firmly believe that one should always keep one's word. Honesty is the best policy.   I was all primed and ready to write a column on the evils of dishonesty and how it ruins so many things. I was planning on ranting about how people just don't seem to think that they need to keep their word. I was going to write about those who lie to get what they want from other people and seem to have no guilt about misleading people.   Before I got started writing I had some things to do. I needed to call two friends of mine. One of them was Agnes and the other was Evelyn. Both of them are elderl...