Daron Letts
Northern News Services
Published Thursday, July 3 2008

Wanda Hatfield found herself in a bit of a pickle this spring. Surgeons diagnosed the Old Town musician and artist with Call-Fleming Syndrome, a rare and serious condition marked by a reversible constriction of the blood vessels in the brain. She underwent a craniotomy in Edmonton in March.

Old Town musician and artist Wanda Hatfield poses with her gregarious pal, Mr. Pickle. Hatfield will soon dispatch Mr. Pickle on a journey around the world to spread love and laughter.

"I'm clear," she said three months later. "The bleeding dissolved and the swelling reversed."

However, the experience of confronting mortality left a lasting impact on her, she said.

Before the emergency procedure, doctors explained to Hatfield that she had a 25 per cent chance of losing her faculties and a 25 per cent chance of never leaving the operating room.

"The only thing left for me was to let go of the unknown," she said. "In the last few minutes (before surgery) I just thought about my family. I really wanted to be aware."

As she felt herself losing consciousness on the operating table, Hatfield looked up at her surgeon and said: "Well, I guess this is it. I'll catch you on the flipside."

She awoke with three metal screws in her head and a heightened sense of humour.

"You just gotta laugh and love and not worry too much about the rest of it," she said. "The whole thing really connected me to my heart on a deeper level. Mr. Pickles keeps up the momentum."

Mr. Pickles is a six-inch-tall soft and fuzzy pickle.

"He's made from wool, but don't tell him," Hatfield said. "He thinks he's real."

Hatfield's friend Wendy Kaas, of Margaretville New York, created Mr. Pickle from wool roving. The pair met at a healing retreat in the Catskills shortly after Hatfield's surgery.

"Wanda's eyes lit up when she first saw the pickle, immediately giving it life and a distinctly hilarious voice," Kaas recalled. "Wanda's attitude, not only toward her recovery, but toward the whole experience in general, is completely inspiring."

World tour

Hatfield is collecting photos of Mr. Pickle posing with her friends, family and lots and lots of strangers.

"I can be outgoing myself but I've always been a little shy meeting new people," Hatfield said.

Mr. Pickle is not shy. Hatfield plans to dispatch him on a world tour to meet and pose for photos with as many people as he can. She is working out the details of Mr. Pickle's journey this month.

Hatfield's longtime friend Jeremy Findlay started a Mr. Pickles fan club page on the social networking site Facebook, where new photos of Mr. Pickle are posted almost every day.

"I have a social life vicariously through Mr. Pickle," Findlay said. "He's definitely outgoing and enjoys meeting new people and making new friends. He's a people-pickle."

Mr. Pickle has made appearances around campfires in the Woodyard and he has gotten pickled at The Raven, Gold Range and Top Knight. He even relished a meal at Bullock's Bistro.

"Brain surgery is never minor, but this was really touch and go," Findlay said. "Wanda not only found a way to make it a positive experience for herself personally, she's also bringing joy to the people around her. That sums up Wanda right there."