goodbye

So Long, Good-by, We Hate to See You Go
Last week we got a letter in the mail from our doctor’s office. She was leaving her practice to "pursue other professional opportunities. "
I’m sure there are many of you who got the same letter. Some were surprised. Some sad. Some curious as to why she was leaving after only less than three years of being our family doctor."
I was none of those. I could not even be sad for me because her main reason for leaving was what made her such a good doctor in the first place: her desire and need to spend more time with her children.
The first time I saw her was at a meeting at the Amundson Center. It was about the building of the new Cambridge Clinic..
She was there with her husband and toddler daughter.( And now, in less than three years, two little brothers have joined the family.)
I didn’t know who she was until some one told me. She sure didn’t look like doctor to me.
The second time I met her I interviewed her for the News: Hometown girl comes back to join the staff of the new Clinic. She still didn’t look like a doctor to me. She looked more like the high school athlete she was at CHS.
She is a doctor. My doctor. In the interview I picked up on her sincerity, and believed her when she said she wanted to know and treat the whole family.
I don’t know, but I think I was one of her first patients. I am not a model patient-don’t want to take pills; I’m infamous for changing appointments or skipping them altogether.
I was not wrong about the sincerity, or the caring. I even accepted the admonishment she gave with a smile, when I didn’t keep my appointments or balked at taking pills.
Coincidentally, the same day I got the letter, I was listening to Wisconsin Public Radio as I was coming home from work. I would love to get a copy of the program.
I don’t remember the doctor’s name, or what college she was from. She is a professor, up in years, and she had many things to say about being a good doctor. The one thing I can paraphrase is -she said being a good doctor is not science. It is love.
I did not get permission to say good-by in this column. I hope I have not overstepped any boundaries.
I just wanted to say that I completely understand why I am losing my doctor. God willing, I will still be here years from now when her kids are grown and she returns.. If not me, another patient who needs a firm hand and a caring heart.
Doctor Stephanie, we wish you well. May the wind always be at your back.
I dusted off my WW Simply the Best recipe book for a healthy recipe.. You can’t tell the difference from the original. Well, maybe just a little bit.
Pineapple Right-side-up Cake
you will need:
½ cup unsweetened applesauce
one 8 ounce can unsweetened crushed pineapple ( reserve the juice)
1/3 cup skim milk
1/3 cup egg substitute or egg whites
½ t vanilla
1 3/4 flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 t baking powder
1/4 cup brown sugar
In one bowl stir together wet ingredients (except the drained pineapple)
In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients except brown sugar
Make a well in the center and stir in applesauce mixture until just combined
Put batter into greased 9 inch pan
Spoon crushed pineapple on top and then brown sugar
Bake in 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes
Serve warm with fat free topping
enjoy
124 calories, no fat, 28 carbs