32 Community Columns
Ponte Vedra Recorder ·September 17, 2015
Teaching a young dog old tricks
Bonnie Talley
Quiltlady
Most of you remember that seven
months ago, I was given a beautiful little
eight weeks’ old Havanese puppy that I
have named “Precious the Third.” What
a blessing she has been in my life. When
I hear someone say that he or she is
too old to get a new puppy, I say, “Bah,
humbug! Not true!” Precious shall keep
me much younger as the years go by; just
chasing after her gives me exercise every
day. Picking up after her is also great
aerobic exercise.
Her favorite pastime is unrolling toilet
tissue a roll at a time and streaming it all
through the house. She has “toilet papered the house” several times in the past
week. I have ‘policed’ every room in my
house to have it safe for her antics. Her
favorite toys are my shoes. She has a little
of ‘Imelda Trump’ in her, as she carried
all of my shoes one at a time to her bed
while I was on the phone the other day.
Her “turtle walk” that is done with her
dog bed upside down and on her back, is
quite entertaining to watch.
Dogs can prove to be a little embarrassing now and then as well. While visiting with a friend the other day, Precious
proceeded to bring her “wee wee pad”
into the living room to show me that she
had done her business on it; thus waiting for her ‘treat’ reward for having done
so. Treats will get a dog to do absolutely
anything that you want them to do.
While Precious was watching the TV
show, “Dog Whisperer” the other day,
she got great ideas of how to get me to
do almost anything that she wanted me
to do. That TV show is now called the
“Mommy Whisperer” as she is getting so
many great ideas.
Her favorite TV show, however, is
“Curious George.” That little monkey
keeps her entertained for an hour every
afternoon. While watching “Sesame Street”
in the mornings, she is learning how to
spell; soon I’ll have to be careful spelling
things out to my friends, as she will know
exactly what I have said.
Her greatest delight is when I turn on
the Golf channel. I’m sure that she will be
taking up golf very soon. She will sit in
front of the TV for hours watching golf,
just as my husband has done for many
years. He claimed that it improved his golf
game.
With all of this activity, I get very little
time to quilt. I have to work on this problem this winter, as I have many projects
that need finishing; but for now, watching
this precious piece of God’s work running
about under my feet and sitting in my
lap, seems to be more important. Cold
weather will be here soon, and she will
outgrow her puppy mode; then I shall
spend my quiet time quilting. Believe this
if you will!
Visit the Ocean Wave Quilters Guild
the second Friday of every month at The
Players Senior Center on Landrum Ln., off
CR-210 behind the Shell station at 10:00
– 12:00 p.m. Hopefully you will find me
there to visit with you about quilting. Precious will most likely be with me.
A compassionate physician 2: Dr. Arnold Fong after hours
“I am blessed to have the family I
have. Our four children are supportive
and really an extension of Vicki and
me,” said Dr. Fong.
But, what happens when physicians
remove their white coats and go home
to their families? Can they relax and
enjoy the world outside medicine. Dr.
Fong and his wife, Vicki, who is also his
practice manager, share an understanding of the challenges of tending to both
practice and family.
“We have three sons: Aiden, 12,
Ashton, 8, Austin, 4, and a daughter,
Amaya, 11,” Vicki said. “It’s a busy life,
but a pretty structured one, apart from
the travel we do. When we’re home, it’s
fairly routine. Dr. Fong’s mother lives
behind us, and at 83 is still active and
healthy. She’s able to be in our home
in the summer and during the year for
Austin who comes home at 1:00 p.m.
It’s huge having her support because it
allows us both to be at the office during
busy hours.”
Does the responsibility for the
children fall on Vicki, as the mother,
even though she works in the practice? “Not really,” she said. “Dr. Fong
is very involved. He doesn’t get home
until late but he gets up in the morning and helps get them to school and
sometimes picks them up from karate.
He also does a lot of housework. He
sleeps only four or five hours. So, while
he’s up looking at lab reports or other
things, he will find whatever needs
doing in the house. He’s really a great
help.”
While I considered nominating Dr.
Fong for sainthood, I learned a great
deal more about this dedicated physician and family man.
Dr. Fong was raised in a house-
hold where education was a priority.
His parents, originally from mainland
China, owned a grocery store in Miami.
Dr. Fong was in a gifted program at
his school which
bussed him to
other schools with
more advanced
classes because
he knew from an
early age that he
wanted to be a
doctor. When he
was 5 years old he
had a routine imSheila Weinstein
munization given
Grow Old with Me
by a physician. It
was a moment of
epiphany. Dr. Fong realized he wanted
to be giving the injection, not getting it.
He loved the thought of being a physician and all he could do for people.
Dr. Fong and Vicki met in rural
Queensland, Australia. Their relationship was symbiotic from the get-go.
Vicki worked for GlaxoSmithKline as a
drug ‘rep’ but was also a nurse. Visiting
the office of an Australian doctor, she
found, instead, Dr. Fong, filling in for
the vacationing doctor. As she waited,
Dr. Fong walked past her, looking worried. He was carrying an EKG. She saw
it and said: “It looks like your patient
has atrial fibrillation.” Surprised at her
knowledge, Dr. Fong told Vicki that he
needed a specialist. She told him they
were all fishing but gave him the name
of a cardiologist who could treat his patient. That was the beginning of a fine
romance. She also gave him some blue
and orange pens which immediately
pleased him as they were the colors of
his university -The University of Florida
- cementing their relationship. After
a two year aerial courtship they were
married and settled in Ponte Vedra.
The Fongs’ first baby was born a few
days after they opened the practice.
In the spirit of a true family practice,
Vicki brought the baby to the office and
went right to work. They had no staff
except a friend to help them at the front
desk. When the next two children came
along, they, too, were in the office daily.
One of them, three year old Aiden,
absorbed valuable medical knowledge
while there. He saw a patient his father
had treated for a laceration and heard
Dr. Fong tell him he would see him in
10 days to take the stitches out, and that
he’d need antibiotics. Another week, a
different patient came in with a laceration and Aiden studied him. The patient
said to Aiden: ”What do you think?”
Aidan said: “10 days, stitches out, antibiotics!”
Dr. Fong is in the office at 8:30
a.m. and not home until 9.00 p.m. I
asked Vicki if he is able to relax once
he’s home. “No. He’s always in touch
with the office. Even on vacation. We
purchased our own electronic medical record system when it was new in
America so he is able to connect with
the office, see the lab work, and test
results. If we’re in Australia, there’s a
14 hour difference, so he’ll be on the
computer at night. We look for a really
good internet connection when we’re at
hotels. Even though he has back up, he
wants to direct his patients’ care himself.
But still, it’s treating people from a distance, so he doesn’t feel right about being away more than a week at a time.”
The Fongs’ free time is spent traveling. From taking their young children
to Australia they found out they could
do it and survive. A list of the places
they have been would take another
column. From Paris to Beijing to Russia, Stockholm and Canada, and on
Disney Cruises as well. “The children
know they won’t be getting the newest
electronic gadget but they’ll be taken
around the world. They love it. They
watch travel shows and get really excited,” Vicki said.
I asked Vicki if there was something
she wanted to say about her husband,
as a physician or just a human. “He’s
very dedicated to the point of irritation.
I can’t tell you the number of times he’s
come into the room at 2 in the morning
and said: ‘I just looked at the lab slip
and such and such has got…’ I hear
him on the phone being a real advocate
for his patients, arguing with other doctors not to put his patient in hospice…
that he wants to make that decision
with his patient. He never throws up his
arms and lets others deal with a problem. He gets on the phone if he feels
a patient isn’t getting proper treatment.
In one instance he contacted the wife
of his patient who was hospitalized and
told her to ask for a second opinion.
The result of that opinion was an immediate trip to the operating room that
probably saved his patient’s life.”
I end with my original thought: that
we elders need to feel we will be well
taken care of by our physicians. I think
Dr. Fong’s patients will know now,
if never before, how he cares about
them…even after hours. As they say
in the Allstate commercial: “Are you
in good hands?” I say, “yes…with Dr.
Fong!”
I leave you with this:
“I told the doctor I broke my leg in two
places. He told me to quit going to those
places.” — Henny Youngman.