Saturday, January 31, 2004
Family emergency...
...I just dropped Dan off at the airport. He's on his way to Bismarck, North Dakota. His parents have driven up from South Dakota and will pick him up in Bismarck. He'll visit his uncle Mickey probably tomorrow. This past week, after the doctors found a tumor in Mickey's esophagus, they ran more tests. They found that the cancer had metasticized and spread to his liver. There is no hope of improvement. Mickey opted to stop the dialysis he was receiving for his autoimmune disease. Without the dialysis, he won't last very long. He is receiving appropriate pain medication from what I was told...that of course was my first concern.
I will be waiting for Dan to assess the situation before I leave for Bismarck. I'll be running errands and taking care of household things in case I need to leave suddenly. Since my computer is on dialup, I'll be offline a great deal of the time so that Dan can reach me with any news.
I have been through this before with my mom and other relatives, so I am somewhat prepared emotionally. Still, it is always sad, no matter how many times it has happened before. Mickey is only about 60.
I was fortunate enough to meet Mickey in June 2002 when Dan and I took a road trip to North Dakota. He was very interested in my fibromyalgia, more so than most people....I think because of his own health problems. While we were there, he showed us his slides from some wonderful vacations he took in Australia, South America and Hawaii. He said that we should all go on a vacation like that at least once in our lives. For Christmas that year, he gave us enough money to go on such a vacation. Ironically, Dan and I haven't gone yet because we were hoping my own health would improve. A few weeks ago, the rheumatologist told me I might not ever be healthier than I am now, so Dan and I scheduled two weeks off this coming October to go to Hawaii. We had planned to get a digital camera so we could send pictures of our trip to Mickey. We still plan to take a trip eventually but don't know when.
Life and death are so uncertain.
Pain level: 6
Fatigue level: 6
I will be waiting for Dan to assess the situation before I leave for Bismarck. I'll be running errands and taking care of household things in case I need to leave suddenly. Since my computer is on dialup, I'll be offline a great deal of the time so that Dan can reach me with any news.
I have been through this before with my mom and other relatives, so I am somewhat prepared emotionally. Still, it is always sad, no matter how many times it has happened before. Mickey is only about 60.
I was fortunate enough to meet Mickey in June 2002 when Dan and I took a road trip to North Dakota. He was very interested in my fibromyalgia, more so than most people....I think because of his own health problems. While we were there, he showed us his slides from some wonderful vacations he took in Australia, South America and Hawaii. He said that we should all go on a vacation like that at least once in our lives. For Christmas that year, he gave us enough money to go on such a vacation. Ironically, Dan and I haven't gone yet because we were hoping my own health would improve. A few weeks ago, the rheumatologist told me I might not ever be healthier than I am now, so Dan and I scheduled two weeks off this coming October to go to Hawaii. We had planned to get a digital camera so we could send pictures of our trip to Mickey. We still plan to take a trip eventually but don't know when.
Life and death are so uncertain.
Pain level: 6
Fatigue level: 6
Comments:
Post a Comment
