"Under Seige...." April 20, 2000

"Under Seige...." April 20, 2000

Midnight...

....or close enough to it to not make any difference. The overnight client is finally "sleeping", and once again peace prevails over the abode. He has been hyper and adversarial the last few weeks, and I am speculating that it is as a result of hormonal changes. Being that "special age" (one I would never return to for any sum of money) is undoubtedly having an adverse reaction to the effectiveness of his behavioural meds.

And it is not anything I did not warn the doctor and psychologist about. But what do they care? They do not have to live with him.

The Goddess and I took Alyx to his first round of chemo today. I lucked out being able to go as the First Nations community I work at during the day shut things down a day early in preparation for the Easter Break. Although he was not scheduled to begin receiving the toxic coctail until 9:30am, Alyx understandably wanted to be there early for his very first session. He did not know what he was in for, except that the entire process was supposed to take about two to three hours.

Alyx really did not know what he was in for. Arriving to the hospital at 9:00am, he did not get out of there until just after 3:00pm.

I know, I have ranted about the ineffective, snail-like bureaucratic processes of our hospital before; it is a legacy left after years of cutbacks in our healthcare system. These cutbacks were largely in an effort to burgeon the already bursting wallets of our politicias and healthcare bureaucrats.

But I digress.

I find it reprehensible to force a patient to wait for hours for treatment of a very serious disease. The problem today was that the oncologist, in another city, had not faxed the orders for the chemo meds to the oncology department here. Alyx had to wait two hours just for the orders to be sent and then the subsequent mix of the toxic coctail. Where he was supposed to be commencing the treatment at 9:30am, it did not actually start until close to 11:30am.

Disgraceful, unnecessary, reprehensible....

Wait, I already used that last one.

Nevertheless, despite the red tape bullshit, Alyx was in fine spirits, and eager to get the treatment underway, regardless of how long it took.

He is a model of patience and diplomacy.

I am still amazed with the amount of drugs that were necessary to pump into Alyx's system. First came a three pills, to be taken at regular intervals through the day; one for his kidney functions, and two for anti-nausea. Then came a saline solution through the passport he had surgically inserted on Monday. Then came ativan and tylenol three. Then came a test dose of his chemo therapy. That was followed by the first bag of the real thing, followed by a saline solution, followed by the second bag. Then two different injections.

One has to wonder which is worse, the disease or the cure.

No wonder he was so tired after the ordeal, but he was patient enough to endure a forty-five minute drive to pick up my overnight client.

Yet, I just called, and Alyx is sound asleep. He has not experienced any discomfort thus far.

Be well, my friend.....

....Blessed Be...