Greetings!
Good morning! We hope this finds you well and thank you. Thank you for being such a good listener.
This call came in a couple hours after business hours. Karen was organizing the office and I had just returned from doing procedures. The conversation took place in late June or early July, I can't remember exactly. Our phone's LED display lit up with an unfamiliar number,
"Do you know where area code 802 is?" our wonderfully devoted receptionist, Karen, asked me. (We think you are fantastic Karen!) "Hmmm, no idea." I quickly grab my iPhone to google 802. "That's cool!" she said. "Wonder who it is??"
With a smile so wide you had to feel it across the phone line, she answers. "Good evening. It's a beautiful day in Walk with a Doc Land. How may I help you?" "Good evening. My name is Angie Chadwick and I was planning on leaving a message, but I'm glad I got you. I was wondering if your program is open to all doctors? I'm a veterinarian that specializes in domestic and exotic animals. We are located in Burlington, Vermont.
"My staff and I have been bothered by the disturbing trend in our patients over the last 5-10 years. We've been seeing an increase in blood pressure, diabetes, and many other illnesses. We think this is strongly correlated with sedentary lifestyles. We need to do something about this! I've heard that Walk with a Doc works and I want to start Walk with a Doc for our clients."
And so that is how it all began.
The following morning, we shipped a toolkit, 50 shirts and pedometers and all the promotional items that Dr. Chadwick needed (just like all of our other sites). Let me tell you, her staff has been phenomenal. They moved quickly and already had their first walk at Oakledge Park this past Saturday.
We love feedback from our partners and we were excited to hear from Angie's office manager, Deedra Turnstone, on Tuesday (8/23). (We had received their sign-in sheet by fax on Monday, but it just had their participant's first names. We were really curious which species of animals were present). "It went off great! The weather was perfect and we had 24 walkers. With this being our first event, we were very pleased. Thank you for all the help." "It was absolutely our pleasure. What was the make-up of your group Deedra?" "Well, I wasn't there, my youngest had a soccer game, but Dr. Angie said it was very diverse. We had 7 dogs, 1 cat - well, actually the cat had to leave after getting his blood pressure checked. He was likely intimidated by the large canine contingency. Max's normal blood pressure is in line with other felines, 124/84. On Saturday, he registered 306/174 and 312/185 on the recheck. Our nurse noticed he didn't take his eyes off of Misha, our Siberian Husky, the whole time he was there. In his defense, Misha didn't take his eyes off of him either. "We also had 4 quarterhorses, 3 Holstein cows, a red fox, a family of 3 yellow mongooses, 2 zebras, a Northern South American cougar, a 6 foot python, and an emu. A real diverse group and everyone got along fairly well. "There were a few unexpected occurences. Bailey, our python, had a brief syncopal event (fainted) while he was having his BP checked. Apparently the cuff cut off his circulation entirely. Dr.Angie administered only about 20 seconds of CPR before he responded quickly and went on the walk with us. He did prefer the grass as opposed to the paved trail and we all understood. "Wallace, one of our quarterhorses, accidentally 'water-cannoned' Michinka, the female yellow mongoose when he was relieving himself. It sent her tumbling end-over-end for at least 8-10 yards. Henry, Michinka's life-partner, took offense but quickly backed off. He realized Wallace not only meant nothing by it, but he was no match physically. Not to stereotype, but as a whole, mongooses are a very understanding animal (like we didn't know that...). "The cougar did great until about half way around the loop. We tried to distract her, but she caught sight of the newest park ranger washing his pick-up. She bounded from the group to purr, meow and nuzzle against his leg. I'm not sure how you guys operate in Columbus, but we like to keep our walkers together." "I'm curious. How were the zebras?" "Oh they were fine."
"The emu?"
"Oh Bill? He's always so happy. We never worry about him."
"So, Angie. Overall it was a good experience?" "Are you kidding me?! It was fantastic. A matter of fact there were a couple of boll weevils that asked what we were doing, we explained Walk with a Doc, and they inquired as to if they could join us next time. You guys don't have anything against insects do you?" "Everybody's welcome Angie. Everytime."
And that is how it went down. Our first Walk with a Vet. Thank you Dr. Angie and Deedra!
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