Day 1136

I had an uneasy feeling when I pushed the elevator button to go up to the eighth floor. This wasn't the cozy little clinic I'd been used to. It was a huge, rather foreboding, research hospital. I had entered the big leagues for bad news. There should have been a sign on the front of the building that said "Don't even bother coming through these doors unless you have very good insurance." Everything about the place screamed expensive. There wasn't just one doctor this time. I had a team of doctors. They read through all the lab reports from the previous doctors and told me that things had changed. "We've learned a lot more about this disease," one of them said. At first I thought this was good news, but it wasn't. Apparently the doctor who told me that doing nothing was a viable option was completely wrong.

I was very disappointed to hear this, because doing nothing was exactly what I wanted to do. I was told to discontinue several medications. New tests were ordered. This was all just to determine if I was a good candidate for treatment. I have a feeling that this is going to be a very long year.

Despite my unsettling visit to the liver institute, it was a pretty good day. The weather was beautiful. We had heavy fog, followed by clear skies as the fog lifted. This is the kind of weather photographers love. The temperature was warm and there were photo opportunities around every corner. The dogs and I had a great walk before breakfast. I would have stayed out a lot longer if I didn't have work to finish.

One of the charities I work with wants to increase their exposure on social media. This certainly isn't news, since everybody wants to do this. We had a meeting tonight and I told them what I tell everybody. The secret to social media is consistent, original, interesting content. Tell a great story and people will start listening. It's that simple. This isn't what a lot of organizations want to hear though. They don't have the time to write interesting stories and take memorable pictures every day. What they want instead is some kind of nifty software that will automatically get thousands of new people to like them on Facebook. I keep telling them that what they are asking for is already out there. It's called Spam.

One of the doctors I saw today told me that he didn't think I was getting enough exercise. Are you kidding me? I walk five miles a day. Jeez! That should be enough for anybody. I proudly told the docs that I had given up drinking. I didn't tell them that I was still eating bacon.

Holly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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