23-01 Jackson Hole 1C

Jackson Hole 1C
Jan 30, 2023,
Hi Everyone,

I have been to Jackson Hole on multiple occasions over the last 30 years, always with a combination of a medical conference and skiing. People laugh, but the conference is superb. The conference runs from 6:30 am to 9:30 am including breakfast. On powder days, I cut out of 8:45. The conference resumes from 4:30 to 7:00 including ‘refreshments’. We are usually 75 urologists present which allows people to ask questions to the professors. The big American and European Urology Conferences have 10-12000 people present not including the reps from pharmaceuticals and medical equipment companies. I usually get lost in big conferences.

The Jackson Hole Urology Conference, also named the Ralph Hopkins Urology Conference after its founder.  About 12 years ago I started getting short of breath. I didn’t notice it that much as I was playing squash twice a week and hockey twice a week. My blood pressure was 105/55 and my pulse was 52. How could I have cardiovascular disease? I was almost dead wrong.

30 years ago I took Antoine to a medical-ski conference in Whistler. The next year I took Melanie and eventually the twins. Gradually the group grew from 2 to 3 to 4 to 8. Dominique joined our ski group and then came the boyfriend, the girlfriend, the husband and the wife. On our last trip to Jackson Hole we were 7. This year the 2 of the couples can’t come and the other 2 have 2 year old children and the voyage would be too difficult. Alas I am alone this time.

I tell the kids that we will start the day with some double black to warm up and then do something more difficult. At the top to the mountain we would climb up a little more, slightly out of bounds, to get some fresh pow-pow. (Powder snow or freshness) 10 years ago at the top I was gasping for breath but with no chest pain. I remember telling Alyson that my climbing days were over as I was too old!

I knew Ralph Hopkins as I had attended a few conferences and he new me on a first name basis. After one of the last sessions, he came up to me to have a chat. “ Hey Brian, how are you? How do you like the conference?” ‘Oh, I really like it.’ “Will you be back next year?” ‘Yes of course’. We shook hands and parted as friends and colleagues promising to see each other next year. 2 weeks after returning to Montreal, I had 3 heart attacks in the space of 10 days while playing hockey. I kept returning for the next game in spite of the angina. Eventually I had a quadruple bypass. I was playing hockey 3  months later and have done 10 triathlons since then. Ralph had a heart attack 3 months later and passed away. I came very close to seeing again and wonder if he is still waiting for me.

Love,

Brian
Sent from my iPad