Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream, -and Stem Cells.

Up early for a dash to Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream Factory! Very nicely done, eductional and delicious sample of Caramel Crunch. They had a flavor graveyard up on a lonesome hilltop with a few trees and a white picket fence. It featured discontinued product names on tombstones, so guests could 'find closure', having mourned the loss of favorite ice creams no longer offered.

Driving onwards, the road suddenly. . . ENDS! Doc might say, 'Where we're going, there are no roads!'

Actually, the pavement ceases to exist with little sign of any being added in the near future. A courtesy stop light assists us when the dirt path is reduced to one lane. Perhaps a landslide wiped out the road, because there was a steep cliff to the right hand side. . .

Now on to Montreal where we have a date to meet Leslie, a cancer patient at the Royal Victoria Hospital. The hospital looks like a grand, medieval castle, sitting atop a hill; a huge stone edifice which is challenging to navigate around.
Leslie is a Back to the Future fan and his cousin Peter contacted us last month, by way of some DeLorean websites and mailing lists. Leslie has Lukemia and we're unsure if he would be able to come out to the car. It was raining lightly, but with some help, Leslie made it outside and down to where the car was parked! This was a big step for him and was a rare excursion, if not his first outside of the building. With his battery powered 'medical tower' of IV's in tow, he sat in the car and grinned from ear to ear.
The car was parked in the hospital's garage, lucky because of the rain! We all took pictures, played with the time circuits and hoverboard, quoted the movie and told stories. His girlfriend, E.J. was also there and helped.Leslie's knowledge of the movie facts was impressive. After a lot of talking and photo taking we make our way back into the hospital, Leslie chooses to walk through the parking lot rather than try the narrow/shorter pass we navigated earlier. Leslie makes the long walk well, but after the elevator ride up, we sit in the family room, closer than his room, for a rest. We all sit and chat some more. Leslie may have tired from the walk, but not the talk. His story is very interesting to us. He is 32 years old, was feeling tired in January and diagnosed with Lukemia. In Canada, stem cell therapies are available and he was given a stem cell transplant. This transplant came from an umbilical cord, (following a babies birth), and introduced to his system after 4 chemotherapy treatments. The chemo kills his diseased bone marrow and the baby stem cells are transplanted through intravenous drip. "The cells know where to go", he says. They travel to the hips where adults make most of their bone marrow and the cells get to work. Leslie said that he could feel them working, that there had been a scare that the transplant hadn't taken, but he could feel them. He has a long road for recovery, but the nurses and his family believe that he will make it. If all goes well, he will no longer be his original blood type, but rather the same type as the baby whose umbilical cord was donated! Incredible!
He went on to educate us about adults being able to donate stem cells too. We still have them, and produce them, and donating is similar to giving blood, but the recipients must be a particular 'match.' There is a registry called BeTheMatch.com where more info can be found.
Leslie was so kind to share some time with us, and we left him with some souvenirs to remind him of the visit.

Peter wins the prize as the world's greatest cousin. He and Leslie were born in that same hospital just two months apart and have a close relationship. He wanted to do something special for Leslie and found us. Since we are appearing at the Montreal Comic Con this weekend, it provided the perfect opportunity to make this happen! Peter explains that with socialized medicine, Leslie's treatment is paid for by the government. Injections, which can cost $1000. each, only cost a small dispensing fee for patients. He explains the downsides to us: Since the funds are focused on patients healthcare, the buildings/structures are not a priority. He pointed out that the hospital is a mix of old structures with new additions built as needed. (Though we are told that the hospital will become condos and completely replaced with a state of the art hospital in four years.)
Care is also prioritized with the most immediate needs being met, such as heart attack patients first, for example.
Peter also said the downside of public healthcare in Canada is that the government takes almost 25% in taxes from individuals income as well as a 17% tax on purchased goods, to help pay for it.
(I'm thinking the American government takes more of our income tax than that, then doesn't give us healthcare. . .)
As Marty McFly says, "It's been. . . Educational."