My Dinner with Dr. Abbott

Last night I had the privilege of going to a dinner for Breast Cancer survivors, for which my mother is one and brought me along, with guest speaker Tom Amandes whom many of you may know as Dr. Harold Abbott of Everwood. His mother-in-law just happens to run the local chapter that my mother belongs to and wrangled him to speak at their yearly dinner at the fancy restaurant in the area. In fact, for those that didn’t realize, his real life wife, Nancy, was also on the show in the early years as Colin Hart’s mother.

Nancy was up first, as she was the hometown girl, then introduced her husband as “the star of… I’m mean one of the stars of Everwood” to which Tom stepped to the mike and clarified “I am THE star of Everwood” and got a good laugh. Tom is very much like hus characher without the air of arrogance that Dr. Abbott tends to have (well except for his opening line). He started talking about a neighbor he had when he first moved to Utah, where the show is filmed, and that he was diagnosed with cancer after moving from Utah to Cincinnati. His buddy then later asked Tom to participate with him in a Ride for Life that is put on by Lance Armstrong yearly in Austin. Tom has even been back since even bringing Nancy back once and had a funny story about how, at the end of the race there are two routes, one for survivors and the second for other rider and he and his wife accidentally finished where the survivors were supposed to go. Tom also talked about his own mother his mother own fight and how on the day of her surgery he was filming a scene where his on-screen wife was going threw a very similar operation. She is now doing fine and he even sent the yellow flower he got after going down the wrong route for the Ride for Life event.

Nancy then came back up to the podium and read the Manifesto of the Lance Armstrong Foundation:

We believe in life.
Your life.
We believe in living every minute of it with every ounce of your being.
And that you must not let cancer take control of it.
We believe in energy: channeled and fierce.
We believe in focus: getting smart and living strong.
Unity is strength. Knowledge is power. Attitude is everything.
This is the Lance Armstrong Foundation.

We kick in the moment you’re diagnosed.
We help you accept the tears. Acknowledge the rage.
We believe in your right to live without pain.
We believe in information. Not pity.
And in straight, open talk about cancer.
With husbands, wives and partners. With kids, friends and neighbors. And the people you live with, work with, cry and laugh with.
This is no time to pull punches.
You’re in the fight of your life.

We’re about the hard stuff.
Like finding the nerve to ask for a second opinion.
And a third, or a fourth, if that’s what it takes.
We’re about getting smart about clinical trials.
And if it comes to it, being in control of how your life ends.
It’s your life. You will have it your way.

We’re about the practical stuff.
Planning for surviving. Banking your sperm. Preserving your fertility. Organizing your finances. Dealing with hospitals, specialists, insurance companies and employers.
It’s knowing your rights.
It’s your life.
Take no prisoners.

We’re about the fight.
We’re your champion on Capitol Hill. Your advocate with the healthcare system. Your sponsor in the research labs.
And we know the fight never ends.
Cancer may leave your body, but it never leaves your life.
This is the Lance Armstrong Foundation.
Founded and inspired by one of the toughest cancer survivors on the planet.


Then came the question and answer which focused mostly on the show although Tom didn’t really say anything that anyone with an interne connection probably didn’t already know like Everwood will be returning back to Monday on March 27th with a two hour episode. He did talk briefly about the network merger and didn’t sound albeit too hopefully that Everwood would be back next season, but suggested heading over to the WB website and leave a message on one of their message boards expressing your support of write the network for those without the internet (this was an older crowd). Also when asked if Nancy would reprise her role as Mrs. Hart, she said they had written her into an episode about AA and was asked to come back by the casting directors but the producers ended up nixing the idea and most likely we will never see her character again.

I didn’t think to bring a camera to take pictures of the event, but if my mom passes along any that were passed along to her, I’ll go ahead and put them up here. For more information on breast cancer or the Lance Armstrong Foundation click on the following images: