Update on Mary

Good advertisement for it.

Another good one is _What Dying People Want: Practical Wisdom for the End of Life_ by David Kuhl, M.D. (std disclaimer applies)

On of my clients called today to schedule some work. Her husband died of lung cancer yesterday after being diagnosed 5 weeks ago. A smoker, he smoked to the end.

Benita, the wife of one of my friends, was diagnosed in 1985 with lupus and given 6 years max to live. She beat the odds and birthed two girls who are now both graduated from high school. One is married and gave birth to a baby who died from a genetic disease (Trisomy 18) within a week of birth. Mom was in the hospital with another horrible problem, which she got from the treatment there, Calciphylaxis.

she got out of there, the nurses dropped her--while she was in a coma from lupus treatment/chemo. She didn't realize that she was damaged until she took a step up from the couch at home and collapsed, hitting her head on the slate floor and -died-! Luckily, hubby and daughter were there and gave her CPR until the ambulance got there and revived her. Evidently, the pelvis was broken which caused her to black out from the pain as it shifted. Since then, she has had her heart, kidney, and parts of her liver removed and/or replaced. She's one courageous gal and I love her for it. None of this is fabrication, it's absolute truth, BTW. I would have given up and let the body go long, long ago, but she just keeps on keepin' on.

We've been very impressed with the Drs at Mayo. They are excellent communicators. Since last Friday, Mary has already had calls from two of the Drs we saw then, with updates on meds and results of lab work. I think many or most Drs might like working with patients that exhibit a strong interest in their treatment and the will to do what they must for best outcome. When I was in rehab after cardiac bypass surgery, more than half of those in my "class" were clearly going to fail. They didn't want to make changes in their lifestyles and diets, quit smoking, get on a regimen of regular exercise, etc. Who could blame a busy Dr. for being more motivated to work with motivated patients than with those who don't seem to care?

Top marks go to the surgeon who did the hysterectomy on SWMBO 8+ years ago. He met with both of us and explained how he intended to attack her uterine cancer and requested approval from both of us. On the appointed day, while she was being prepped, he met me and suggested that I would be more comfortable at home and to come back at 5PM when he would see me. At 5 PM he collected me from the waiting area and explained that everything had gone well, showed me where the BOSS would be bedded down when she came up from recovery and where I should wait in the meantime so that the staff could find me when she was settled in. I have never seen the man since but have been given to understand that we had the best in the province. I agree! Gerry :-)} London, Canada