You may recall the tale of a little 4 year old girl who passed in a recent post. If only that were the end of it.
My wife had worked another case part time, which due to the recent death of her previous patient, she has been filling in there a bit more lately. She looks after another young girl there with enough medical issues requiring a nurse to work the case. This little girl has some older brothers and a sister. The older sister had recently turned 16, and had acquired her drivers license as most do at that age, and on her way to a Halloween event ran off the road, to unknown causes, rolled the vehicle she was driving, and she didn’t make it. She probably died instantly or soon thereafter having suffered significant head trauma. So damn if we weren’t visiting another wake, all too soon after the funeral we had recently attended. I knew this girl only briefly, but I knew her well enough to know she had a wonderful personality and a good head on her shoulders. I know because she was very interested in politics and was very much not a tRump fan. We can’t afford to lose good minds, especially when they had an entire lifetime before them. A damn shame.
Cancer Is A Bitch II
I posted a while back on my neighbor, he was diagnosed with stage 4 kidney cancer right at 3 years ago.* He put up a good fight, he went well beyond the 6 months the dr.’s gave him to live. After a long and valiant fight, my friend and neighbor passed away this morning. It was much like watching a train wreck in super slow motion. You know what is coming, but it happens at a slow enough pace it almost seems like just maybe the damn train won’t wreck after all. Then it does. And it leaves you in a state of mild shock and disbelief that it could have had happened at all. Unreasonable I know, but the feeling persists. It was honestly a little more than a week ago I helped him winterize his RV, and also helped him fix his tractor. He was frail, weak, had trouble walking, but his drive was persistent, his attitude positive, always speaking of the things he was going to do next year or the year after. I really didn’t think it was going to be this soon. It all went downhill quick.
I saw him yesterday, he was laid up, passed out from the morphine he was on. Hospice had been implemented, the cancer had spread throughout his body and moved into his spine. His pain was extraordinary, I know he is without pain and suffering now. Little it does to ease the hurt of losing a friend and neighbor. Yet I hold on to the knowledge that none of us should suffer so. He is gone. A damn shame.
It has been a rough ride of recent. May you and yours be well.
I promise to put up something a bit less depressing next time, I have a ton of photos to go through, maybe Ill get a Picture Day up next time around. 🙂
* See here:
https://evidencebasedreality.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=4790&action=edit
Evidence Based Reality 
In this day and age of cell phones in every hand/pocket/purse … when I read about fatal accidents related to “unknown causes” …
I don’t think I need to say more.
So sorry to hear of your losses.
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Yeah, cell phone is certainly one of the first things that comes to mind.
Thanks Nan.
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Morbid, I know, but a good reminder that part of living is dying, that we have no real control over it, and that it will touch us again and again. My spouse works as a community care Hospice coordinator for 1/2 million population city. It’s everywhere. It’s with us all the time. We have people we know and love dying every day. Our lives are filled with grieving people. So we live on knowing that we’re going to have to go through the death of friends, family, people we know. Living is hard and living well knowing we’re going to have to live through all this over and over again makes the time of joy precious. I know my writing style turns a lot of people off but in real life I live well with much joy and great humour and others love the company. No bullshit when you’re dying. Why live any other way?
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” I live well with much joy and great humour and others love the company. No bullshit when you’re dying.”
This is much how my neighbor took his situation. He knew damn well what was heading his way, and kept that attitude right till the morphine was necessary.
Hospice, the angel of death. But without it there would be much needless suffering. I’m grateful they are out there, and hopeful I just die in my sleep. I want to be cremated and my ashes strewn into the river I worked in for 30 years when that time comes. No preachers, no ceremony, I want some cold beer and a few bottles of good drink to be my parting gift to those who would step up and have a drink on me.
Of course I’d prefer to have that drink with those who would, before that time comes 🙂 Now that Ive mentioned it, a stiff drink sounds pretty good.
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Damn it man! Sorry for your losses.
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Definitely a rough ride SD. A lot of times these things feel manageable but when they all come at once it feels like a much bigger kick in the teeth. I hope things get better soon. Peace my friend.
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Yeah, 3 in fairly rapid succession hardly gives those feelings time to subside.
Im sure its a glitch in the normal. Thanks Swarn 🙂
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Sorry for the losses, my friend.
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Thanks man 🙂
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