Dashing Through the Snow...to the Dr.'s Office

The streets were already slick with snow at 6 a.m. when we left home for downtown Chicago. Radio Disney kept E company as I white-knuckled my way into the Loop.

The appointment was for 8:20. The trip normally takes 45 minutes. If we catch all the lights. We made it to the doctor's office with 20 minutes to spare.

E and I broke out our Winnie-the-Pooh mini playing cards while waiting our turn for Dr. L. Forty minutes and a half dozen wars later, he finally appeared. And was worth the wait.

Easy going, fifty-something, and slim, with curly brown hair and wire-rimmed glasses, Dr. L engaged E in a lengthy conversation about school, friends and family. And he seemed genuinely interested in all her answers. E warmed to him immediately, eager to share all the gossip about her sisters and her best friend and her pets.

After a time, Dr. L wondered why the anesthesiologists didn't go ahead with the surgery the day before Thanksgiving. Apparently, he'd been in the building the day the procedure was cancelled, and would have gladly given another OK had anyone bothered to call him. But no one did.

I suggested that maybe the bit about the E's liver had been the deal breaker. He shook his head, saying that shouldn't have stopped them from going in.

When I commented that maybe the anesthesiologist was skittish, he looked up, smiled, and said, "I see nothing here to keep E from having surgery."

Hmmm. One doc down. One to go. Then it's all on the anesthesiologist's plate. Oh, and there's the matter of a date. We still need one of those.

Appetite for writing: Um, yeah, I have one. And I have ideas to show from my drive downtown. Here are some of the notes I jotted down in the half light on the way to the doctor this am.

One--a note to remember how frantic our oldest soundest this am when she sprang from bed and leaned over the upstairs railing. Is everything all right. Why is everyone up? What's wrong? (Turns out we'd forgotten to tell her I was leaving with E early for our appointment. When she heard us rushing to get out she must have thought the worse...)

Two--a note to remember the joy in E's voice as she belted out the words to all her favorite songs on Radio Disney, a station we can't get in Lockport, but comes in just fine the closer we get to downtown Chicago.

Three--the beauty of a doe, shrouded in the early morning snow, grazing alongside railroad tracks near the expressway.