Smoke in the Woods
Last night,Monday, when I drove home from the hospital in the dark, I smelled smoke and one stand of the pine trees has been given a therapeutic burn. I was amazed to see flames and coals glowing and no one around watching. In this humid green country, I guess it wasn’t going anywhere.
Out in the west, folks have their eyes peeled for smoke, and sniff the wind for that dangerous smell. A summers’ grazing could go up, or a stack of hay for the winter. And out in California, the dry hills roar with fires again, destroying houses and ruining dreams. I still think of fire that way, even though I know the forests need controlled burns.
On last Sunday, on our way home from a scouting trip to the big clinic in Richmond, Don suddenly had chest pains, so he ended up, via ambulance in the hospital again. Although a heart attack was suspected, it turns out that pain was a pulmonary embolism which kills a lot of people, but not Don. Monday, lots of waiting, some tests, more waiting, some Doctors came and said things, medications were administered, more tests, more waiting.
The sticky blood that cancer causes is the problem, so they want to get that under control, but the Coumadin didn’t work. They were concerned with some swelling at the site of the stroke, so more medications, and insulin because one of the drugs made his diabetes go nuts.
This morning, I came in to find Don confused and worried, the oncologist had told him (wrongly) that he had a few small cancer cells in the brain and wanted to do radiation. I comforted him and realized that his short term memory wasn’t what it was yesterday. A nurse came in to ask him questions for the MRI, and some of them he answered incorrectly, she was unaware that he wasn’t up to this. Then aides appeared to take him to radiation. He apparently said OK to that. Red Flag.
Shortly after that the radiologist came to say she didn’t do the radiation, that she didn’t think by his records that it was a good idea, and said the neurologist had advised against it. We talked about what the point of radiation was for the head, when the liver tumors are what are going to get him, and it suddenly became clear that it was time to go home, get in the hospice people and let him die in his RV as he wishes. An hour later she said that the MRI showed no cancer, only some small clots. Not good, but not needing radiation.
I said some strong things to the oncologist and the supervisor Dr about the radiation. When I asked the oncologist if he had read the neurologists report, he said he couldn’t read it! I gather that some butt will be kicked here over this. I also pointed out that Don hadn’t been given his breakfast and had a headache that wasn’t attended to.
So, they will bring the Hospice folks around tomorrow, get that organized and I will take him home to the pine forest.
I don’t think this is a bad hospital, we were generally well taken care of, but if I wasn’t a dragon, much could have gone badly, and they are bound to treat him here with anything they can think of.
I’m sleeping here in the hospital tonight, like a good dragon. I went home earlier to comfort the dog, get some stuff, tell the neighbor, and there were the remains of the fire still glowing and smoking, with no one watching it. That still doesn’t seem right, like cancer, fires need to be under vigilant care.
Next day, Wednesday:
All is resolved, we know how hospice works, tomorrow we go to one last doctor, the necessary attending physician for the hospice program, and then he will have peace. A nurse will come once a week or so, the eyes and ears of the doctor, and other help can be summoned if I need it.
Tonight, there is a light rain on the roof, and the pine trees are dripping, but that is the only sound. He is sleeping in his own bed, and no one will come to take his vitals in the night, nor exhaust him with questions.
Out in the west, folks have their eyes peeled for smoke, and sniff the wind for that dangerous smell. A summers’ grazing could go up, or a stack of hay for the winter. And out in California, the dry hills roar with fires again, destroying houses and ruining dreams. I still think of fire that way, even though I know the forests need controlled burns.
On last Sunday, on our way home from a scouting trip to the big clinic in Richmond, Don suddenly had chest pains, so he ended up, via ambulance in the hospital again. Although a heart attack was suspected, it turns out that pain was a pulmonary embolism which kills a lot of people, but not Don. Monday, lots of waiting, some tests, more waiting, some Doctors came and said things, medications were administered, more tests, more waiting.
The sticky blood that cancer causes is the problem, so they want to get that under control, but the Coumadin didn’t work. They were concerned with some swelling at the site of the stroke, so more medications, and insulin because one of the drugs made his diabetes go nuts.
This morning, I came in to find Don confused and worried, the oncologist had told him (wrongly) that he had a few small cancer cells in the brain and wanted to do radiation. I comforted him and realized that his short term memory wasn’t what it was yesterday. A nurse came in to ask him questions for the MRI, and some of them he answered incorrectly, she was unaware that he wasn’t up to this. Then aides appeared to take him to radiation. He apparently said OK to that. Red Flag.
Shortly after that the radiologist came to say she didn’t do the radiation, that she didn’t think by his records that it was a good idea, and said the neurologist had advised against it. We talked about what the point of radiation was for the head, when the liver tumors are what are going to get him, and it suddenly became clear that it was time to go home, get in the hospice people and let him die in his RV as he wishes. An hour later she said that the MRI showed no cancer, only some small clots. Not good, but not needing radiation.
I said some strong things to the oncologist and the supervisor Dr about the radiation. When I asked the oncologist if he had read the neurologists report, he said he couldn’t read it! I gather that some butt will be kicked here over this. I also pointed out that Don hadn’t been given his breakfast and had a headache that wasn’t attended to.
So, they will bring the Hospice folks around tomorrow, get that organized and I will take him home to the pine forest.
I don’t think this is a bad hospital, we were generally well taken care of, but if I wasn’t a dragon, much could have gone badly, and they are bound to treat him here with anything they can think of.
I’m sleeping here in the hospital tonight, like a good dragon. I went home earlier to comfort the dog, get some stuff, tell the neighbor, and there were the remains of the fire still glowing and smoking, with no one watching it. That still doesn’t seem right, like cancer, fires need to be under vigilant care.
Next day, Wednesday:
All is resolved, we know how hospice works, tomorrow we go to one last doctor, the necessary attending physician for the hospice program, and then he will have peace. A nurse will come once a week or so, the eyes and ears of the doctor, and other help can be summoned if I need it.
Tonight, there is a light rain on the roof, and the pine trees are dripping, but that is the only sound. He is sleeping in his own bed, and no one will come to take his vitals in the night, nor exhaust him with questions.
posted by Thistledown24 at 6:04 PM
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