That makes it sound worse than it is. First, she doesn't have leukemia; she has a condition that leads to that but it isn't there yet. And the medication is nothing like as harsh as that which would be administered to a younger person with leukemia. That treatment would counterproductive in a person Mom's age. From what I understood the Dr to say during our teleconference two weeks ago, Mom's bones failure to make blood is a fairly common result of aging. Human bodies simply aren't designed to remain efficient past 80 years. The systems start breaking down. Even with this condition, Mom kicked the Wuhan Flu back to China, so that gives you a lot of information about Mom, the virus that has paralyzed the world, the quality of medical care in the US, the importance of daily good health and the over reaction of the media and the political class to this situation.
I digress.
Mom's treatment is simple and doesn't take much time. My brother and I went together and while I took Mom to the hospital, Andy stayed with Dad. Mom and I both think Dad can hang by himself for an hour or so but Andy wanted to make sure. He was afraid Dad would try to use the bathroom or go for a walk and wind up flat on his back. Dad's done that a few times but mostly at night, when he doesn't really know what he's doing. Andy may well be correct and Dad shouldn't be trusted to sit in his chair and watch TV while we're gone. Dad has fared much worse than Mom in this shut down. While she was in isolation at the hospital, his condition deteriorated rapidly. No exercise, no fresh air, no company...Dad wants to know what crime he committed to get himself confined to "This boxcar" for so long. Six weeks ago, he could walk 100 yds holding just the railing in the hall. Now, he can go about 20 ft before he has to rest. His physical condition is great compared to his mental state. Stress, fear, loneliness, and no sleep have combined to push him down what looks like the road to dementia. But it's hard to tell. Can you blame a guy for not having a firm grip on reality when that reality has become as unbelievable and strange as ours?
"I need shoelaces. Let's go to Gear."
"We can't, Dad. Gear is closed. Everything is closed."
"Where are we going to Church this week?"
"We're not going to Church, Dad. They aren't doing Masses right now."
"Let's get out of here."
"We can't, dad. We're under lockdown. No one can go anywhere."
This is a 92 year old American who joined the Navy durning WWII. Of course none of this makes sense to him!!
It doesn't make any sense to me, either.
It makes me wonder how many other old people who were still mentally agile six weeks ago are being pushed out of their minds by the unreasonable and inhumane restrictions placed upon them in the name of their own safety. At least Dad has Mom, me and Andy.* There are worse fates than death.
I've never had much patience for hysteria or coddling. My Viking Ancestors live near the surface of my psyche.
I digress again. Mom and I go to the hospital, I drop her at the door, run an errand or two, go back to the hospital and wait for her to come out and we are usually home about 70 minutes after we left. Her procedure consists of two subcutaneous shots in the abdomen. The only reason it takes even as long as it does (from 25 to 40 minutes) is because they mix up her chemical cocktail on the spot so it's personal and fresh. I'm delighted to report that so far, Mom has suffered no side effects at all; no upset stomach, no fatigue. In fact, only one of the 14 shots she endured hurt a bit and the nurse took the blame for that.
Now we get three weeks off before doing it again.
I hope Mom continues to handle it as easily. I'm more worried about Dad.
The weather has been lovely, so twice last week, we took him for a walk on his new scooter, which he absolutely loves! the problem is that he'd rather have fun than not tip over. If he turns too sharply or tries to drive off the walk onto the grass (cutting corners) it tips and he doesn't have the command of his legs or the core strength to right himself. If he goes over the lip of a driveway at too sharp an angle, he can lose balance, too. I reminded him that the time he did tip over, he bruised himself from his shoulder to his knees. "Oh, that didn't hurt!" he scoffed. Live free or die.
On Thursday, Mom found out that her priest was taking Confessions on Saturday. Dad had been asking about going all month, so they wondered if one of us could take them. Andy said he would. He couldn't come sit with Dad on Friday, so Katie did. Her own quarantine ended about the same time as Mom's but she's having a hard time beating the fatigue that seems to last forever. Jay hasn't really suffered too much of that. Friday was gorgeous so when Mom and I returned, there were Katie and Dad, on the scooter, going for a walk in the park. We joined them. Mom didn't have the energy to walk all the way so she sat on a bench by the playground and just enjoyed the sunshine while Katie and I made sure Dad didn't try any figure 8s. He looks so cute on that thing, in his sunglasses and stetson!
Saturday morning, I texted Andy a reminder about taking them to Confession. He texted back that he was golfing.
So I took them. And I went myself, too, because you can bet I had some very unkind things to say to Andy for bailing without notice. Also, I never made it during Lent and my soul is a dusty place. Telling Andy I hoped he didn't break 100 was uncharitable but under the circumstances, not sinful.
The truth is that I haven't stayed home a single day since this stupid stay at home directive came down from our Lying Governor "74,000 Walz", which is really frustrating because I LOVE STAYING HOME. Home is my favorite place. Why would I ever go big when I can go home??
But there's too much that needs to be done. And of course, if the governor tells me I have to stay home, you bet your ass I'm going out. I'm not afraid of this stupid virus and unless you're suffering from an immunodeficiency or are dying of something already, neither do you.
"Safe" is nothing but control.
And there's nothing safe about what we're doing, either. Our hospitals are nearly empty. Do you think all other illnesses, diseases and conditions have miraculously disappeared? how many tumors are going undetected, how many diseases undiagnosed, conditions undiscovered while we continue to pretend that Wuhan Flu is a lethal threat to the entire population?
I'm ready to slap the next person I hear say "better safe than sorry."
Great. Now I have to go to Confession again.
*I told Mom and Dad that Andy and I were plotting to ensure that they forget their other 7 children. Just for spite** of course; there won't be an inheritance.
**that's a joke. These things need to be explained these days. These insufferably stupid days.