Skip to main content

End of a Long Short Week

End of a Long Short Week

Friday, July 22, 2022

8:27 PM

I’ve reached the end of a long short week. I’ve been in hospital since Tuesday. That’s only four days, but my cranky old man is trying to get out to complain:

 

  • I’m so tired of being a prisoner in isolation
  • I miss being able to go outside even if it is too hot and humid
  • The tubing that is giving me oxygen is rubbing on my skin and my nose and ears hurt
  • I had to wash my poopy undies in the sink and hang them to dry in the shower
  • I need a haircut
  • I had to cut the long nose and ear hairs with the tiny scissors on my Swiss Army knife
  • I’m bored with walking 10 steps to the left around the bed and then 10 steps to the right around the bed
  • I’ve begun talking to the beeping machines and they’re not answering in a friendly way
  • My low back hurts
  • I’m a little weepy tonight
  • I miss my best friend
  • And maybe the worst is not having any idea when this will end

 

I’m still grateful for the care I’m receiving through the wonderful staff at the QEH. I am so appreciative of all the support I’ve received from my relatives and friends from coast to coast to coast. I feel both fortunate and lucky, but I had to let the cranky old fellow out for a bit. Now what are the chances of getting a stiff drink around here?

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Counting

  It’s feels strange to be counting the rest of my life in weeks and days and curling games on TV. While we haven’t finalized the date for MAiD we are aiming for early November. Some examples… Last week, confirmation of my cataract surgery arrived by mail with a date later in November. Nope. I won’t be here for that. A couple of days ago, a friend and former colleague dropped off some cookies and stayed for a brief visit. She said she would be out of province for about six weeks. As she was leaving, she said she would see me later. Nope. I won’t be here when you get back. The other evening I was asked why I was staying up so late. I replied that I was watching a women’s curling game and for me there were just a few games left in my life to watch so I was staying up. And all of a sudden it doesn’t feel as if there is enough time to make sure all the other things are looked after. One major item has been checked off the list: organizing and pre-paying for cremation. All I needed was ...

After the Transplant Doctor Consultation

Last Friday started sunny and calm outside. Inside, another story. Getting out of bed is very difficult most days. It takes a lot of energy and oxygen to get myself going. This morning I found myself in a coughing loop. The more I coughed, the lower my blood oxygen level dropped. Coughing is physically exhausting. After being unable to stop coughing, I switched from the concentrator to a tank of oxygen which gives me purer O2 and helps break the coughing loop. It worked, but I had used a lot of physical energy. I only have so much and I needed to save some for my meeting with a doctor from the transplant team at Toronto General Hospital. The meeting started late because the video conferencing app Microsoft Teams didn’t work. [surprise, surprise; btw I hate MS Teams] We finally got the audio portion working, but the doctor could not see us. We could see her and we could hear each other. The first 30 minutes or so was the doctor exploring my health history. I’m getting very good at telli...

How Are You Doing Anyways?

Fewer than three weeks away from the end of my life and I’m asking myself how am I doing.   As I am trying to live in the moment as much as is possible, I can say I’m doing alright. I can’t help myself when my mind wanders to contemplate that just after four in the afternoon in early November there will be no more me. In this brain which is always crackling with thought energy there will be nothing. An emptiness. It’s hard to wrap my head around it.   I think this is how and why some find comfort in the concept of an afterlife. They say to themselves, “surely this can’t be it“. But I think it is. We have one chance at life and if there is something after, it’s not who we were, if that makes sense. I can also see why people believe in miracles. They hope and hope that something supernatural will occur and magically they will be cured or returned to a previous state of better health.   I’m not frightened of what will be coming. In many ways, the end will be a relief. No mor...