Text 442, 91 rader
Skriven 2007-01-02 21:32:39 av Ardith Hinton (1:153/716.0)
    Kommentar till text 441 av Daryl Stout (251.survivor)
Ärende: A Humble Request
========================
Hi, Daryl!  Recently you wrote in a message to Ardith Hinton:

DS>  Sorry I didn't reply sooner.


          Not to worry... people often write at erratic intervals in this echo,
depending on their own state of health (or whatever).  The volume of mail tends
to drop off around Christmas too because it's a busy time for many people.  :-)



DS>  He is home now, but hasn't had many "good days" since
DS>  they discovered the cancer.


          Well... if it's anything like Nora's treatment for leukemia, the cure
may seem worse than the disease at first!  The doctors use some very heavy duty
stuff to get folks into remission, but the protocol is easier later on....  :-)



DS>  The thing is, he has been almost constantly in a state
DS>  of nausea...even though he has medicine for it.


          That's not unusual.  While Nora was in treatment I carried a bag with
spare clothing for the whole family wherever we went.  If he's feeling brave he
might try doing without the anti-nausea medicine, however.  When Nora was given
Gravol for the same purpose it didn't seem to help much.  Then I found out that
one of the side effects of Gravol is (guess what??) nausea & vomiting.  We quit
using Gravol, and she didn't throw up any more or less often as result....  ;-)



DS>  my brother and his fiance' aren't as squeamish as I am
DS>  (he hunts and cleans his own deer, etc., and she has
DS>  nursing experience).


          Ah... I think one's prior experience does play a part here!  I had to
suppress my gag reflex on many occasions when Nora threw up or had a smelly BM.
But when I was alone with her & my husband was going to be at work for the next
eight hours, I didn't have anybody else available to do the cleanup.  I doubt a
nurse who expects others to do it would be popular with her colleagues....  :-/



DS>  I have not seen my Dad since he left to go into the
DS>  hospital, but have talked to him a few times. He is
DS>  still obviously depressed, as noted earlier.


          So you're supporting him as best you can... that's good.  I trust you
will continue to talk to him on the phone or whatever, as you've been doing.  I
imagine the treatment is taking a lot out of him & he may seem depressed at the
present time.  But as an oncology parent, I must also inform you that it's very
hard on the patient when other folks keep their distance physically.  Cancer is
not a communicable disease with which one must be quarantined for the safety of
the population at large.  Intellectually most people realize that.  Emotionally
they're unconvinced, however, and they keep making excuses for not stopping by.
Or the patient feels s/he has to support them because they're so upset....  :-(



DS>  So, if these "professionals" have trouble, what does
DS>  that say for me??


          It tells me that such instinctive reactions are probably normal.  But
many people can & do override them when they have good reason to do so....  :-)



DS>  That's an issue of "survival" unto itself.


          Yes.  The older, more primitive part of the brain tells us to get rid
of our stomach contents in case somebody put the wrong kind of mushrooms in the
communal pot... and to avoid people who may have a contagious illness for which
there is no known cure.  I was amazed at my fanatical devotion to Nora when she
was ill, but Dallas & I both recognized that we instinctively attached a higher
priority to the survival of the species than to our own personal survival.  She
might not be alive today if we hadn't done that.  In more modern times, we have
the ability to analyze our instincts & decide whether they're still productive.
JFTR, though, I've never said I found it particularly easy to do that....  :-))




--- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+
 * Origin: Wits' End, Vancouver CANADA (1:153/716)