Dear Editor,
And some people wonder why seniors like to enjoy the benefits of retirement that can only be found in small towns like Black Diamond.
Having had three major surgical resections since being diagnosed with Crohn’s disease 61 years ago at age 15, I presented my 76-year old body with the typical Big Three ailments that always accompany me to a hospital – nausea, diarrhea and dehydration – when I arrived at Black Diamond Oilfields Hospital with food poisoning (self inflicted) on Feb. 25. I was deemed too sick to go home that night, so spent it on an IV (Intravenous) drip for dehydration in their emergency ward. I felt better the next morning and left, but had to return by ambulance just eight hours later in a dehydrated and very weak state.
A seven-day stay in hospital followed and I was able to go home on March 5, amid the cleanup of the streets from the snowstorm. I had been given two prescriptions by the doctors, but felt very weak and did not want to attempt to drive the snowy streets, so just remained home that day because I knew I had some of these pills on hand. That evening, I noticed my old pills, from former prescriptions, were quite outdated but took them and went to bed.
At midnight, I awoke with my worst nightmare - my ‘Big Three’ were back with a vengeance because my old pills clearly hadn’t and didn’t work.
I stewed for two hours, hoping for a miracle (none came) and pondering my two choices: another ambulance ride, eventually to a hospital destination between Canmore or Claresholm or to phone my pharmacist. At 2 a.m., I hesitatingly called Sandul’s Pharmacy.
Ron Sandul answered at home and was at my house, in -25 weather, within half an hour and took my new prescriptions to his office. He returned in half an hour (it was now 3 a.m.) with my pills and a handwritten bill for $10.15 (handwritten because Ron had learned that the Alberta Health Services computers were shut down for the night).
Ron absolutely refused a tip or to take even another penny, saying he “just couldn’t do it.”
My new pills immediately corrected my abdominal upset and I was quickly back on the road to a full recovery.
I consider Ron Sandul to be not only my hero, my angel in the night ... but my lifesaver.
Doug Abraham
Black Diamond
