"To Biopsy Or Not To Biopsy...." April 7, 2000

"To Biopsy Or Not To Biopsy...." April 7, 2000

Well After Midnight...

...Alyx underwent his first surgery this afternoon; a small incision was made at the base of his neck, large enough to slink a scope down his torso so as to extract a sample of the malignancies for subsequent biopsy.

A simple enough proceedure that the bureaucracy at the hospital took long enough to perform, putting it off again and again at the expense of Alyx's mental and emotional well being.

He was first told of the impending surgery last Friday. The surgeon performing it told him Sunday that he would include Alyx on the "add-on" list so that it would be done Monday, or Tuesday at the latest. On Tuesday, he was told by the floor nurses that, no, his surgery was not until Friday morning at 8:00am. This morning, he was told, no, your proceedure is not until 12:00pm.

At 12:30pm today, he was still waiting for them to come and take him to the OR.

And having spent time with him every day, I can say with certainty that the antics of this monkey organization is almost as taxing on those that care about Alyx as Alyx himself.

And to think that his life is depending on these people.

One of whom is my ex-wife, Vivian, who, with a high school education, sterilizes operating equippment at the hospital. After not giving Alyx and Karyn more than the time of day in the last five years since our divorce, Vivian has been spending a great deal of time visiting them both in Alyx's room. With her high school education, she described to Alyx her version of the surgery he was going to have, adding details that were graphic, unpleasant, and not even true. She did this, not to comfort Alyx for it did anything but, but to boost her ever fragile self-esteem. She has done things like this for as long as I have known her, and I am almost sad for her that she is the same person she has always been.

Almost, that is, for now that Alyx is really sick, I find it offensive that she dares to even be on the same floor.

So this morning, after driving the overnight client to school at sunrise, The Goddess and I donned on our clothes from the night before and went up to the hospital in hopes of meeting up with Alyx coming out of the recovery room. Come to find out, he had not even gone to surgery yet.

We had a great morning, the three of us, and I hope playing crib, telling anecdotes, jokes, making fun of The Goddess and the occasional smoke break did enough to relax Alyx before the operation. If not, the pre-op drugs they gave him at 11:00am certainly did.

Alyx stoned is a hilarious Alyx, indeed.

Then Vivian walked in, with her know-it-all attitude, and emanating as much tension in my presence as she did five years ago. It is a shame that she has made no personal growth over these last few years. The Goddess and I did all we could to keep things pleasant for Alyx. Luckily he was drugged up enough not to notice the glares and innuendoes.

Nevertheless, Alyx made it through the proceedure relatively unscathed. After working this afternoon, The Goddess and I visited him in the evening. Although in dire pain, he was the same old Alyx, jovial, cordial, and genuine.

And tomorrow, we get to bring him ice cream.....

....Blessed Be...