By: Danielle Bouchard, GM
The dog photo that you see is one of my yellow lab, Gertrude, “Gertie” or “Gertz” for short. This photo was taken at Indian Lake, PA her favorite place! In late 2018, Gertie was diagnosed with a protein deficiency. I had taken her for a routine check-up and had blood drawn and the results that came back shocked both the Dr. and me. She had no symptoms whatsoever, but her levels were so low that the Dr. said “you need to have her see a specialist asap”. So, off to an internal specialist we went.
In order to fix her protein deficiency, she needed to be on three medications with one of those being a chemo type of drug along with blood draws every 6-weeks. Specialty drug stores are the only ones that offer such medicines so I was directed to the Kensington Apothecary off of Connecticut Ave and Knowles. The first time I went to the Apothecary, I wasn’t sure where to park so I parked at the Ace Hardware store located on Knowles. I had never been in that hardware store and I was really curious about it so I decided to visit before going in to the Apothecary. On that day, I uncovered a treasure! I love that hardware store. Their service is fantastic, they have lots of great items and they have fun gadgets right when you enter. I love gadgets!
The hardware store also sells dog toys, bird seed, feeders, all sorts of stuff. While there during that first visit, I purchased a bag of wildflower seed. The two other photos you see are the result of throwing that wildflower seed near my mailbox. I love flowers and gosh, I was amazed at all that blossomed. I had flowers from May 2019 through October 2019. Some of the flowers grew to be four to five feet tall. People in my neighborhood would walk down the cul-de-sac just to see the flowers. I met more neighborhood folks that summer because of those flowers.
Anyway, after my visit to the hardware store I made my way to the Apothecary. And again, what a treasure and an amazingly caring staff! I purchased all three medications, quite costly I might add, but my Gertie needed the treatment or else this protein deficiency would be fatal. Yes, I had a good chance of losing her if the treatment did not work or if I elected to forgo treatment.
Here we are almost two years later, and Gertie is doing well. She is still medicated but with only one medication. She is due for bloodwork soon to determine what we do next, but because of Covid-19 I am not venturing out to the vet just yet. She seems happy and that makes me happy!
I hope the pictures put smiles on your faces. It’s important to reflect and remember the good times because no doubt we will have them again, maybe not soon, but we will have them again!
