My Battle with Merkel Cell Cancer

so he can sleep.
2:00 Dana takes Bel to the doctor. Dual ear infection. Dana's third trip to the pharmacy is
underway.
2:00 Mom and I are shown a really bad video of a woman with "flock of seagulls" hair
explaining (incorrectly, it turns out) how to use a feeding tube. There are 20 minutes I'm
never getting back.
2:30 Dad is ready to go, mom goes to get the car. Dad tells me that he has a vague
recollection of fighting the doctor's efforts to get the tube in. That probably explains the
extra anesthetic he got and the longer than expected groggy period.
3:00 Nurse helps dad get into the car.
3:15 We arrive at my parents' house. (I think I might have gotten about 30 minutes off on
this schedule, since 3:15 seems earlier than it really happened).
3:30 Dad is in his bed, exhausted.
3:35 Dad is scheduled to see Dr. Flam at 8:30 tomorrow, but we think today's events
probably make that appointment unnecessary. Mom calls Dr. Flam again asking for
biopsy results and whether he needs to go to his appointment.
4:00 First Super Tuesday results come in. Dad turns it on and watches for a few minutes,
then naps.
4:55 Mom places third call to Dr. Flam, and he's already on the exchange. So we still
don't know if we have biopsy results or an appointment tomorrow.
5:30 In the ironic moment of the day, I get a call from St. Agnes billing about a bill I got
and apparently didn't pay quickly enough -- because I was too busy caring for my dad as
a St. Agnes inpatient. The message said to call them back and that they were open until
6:00 p.m. I called back right away, but it turns out that they were only open until 3:00 p.m.
Very annoying.
6:00 Dad is settled. He has some pain related to the PEG, but he seems OK. I head to
the store to get dinner.
Dad wants to have a few days without a doctor or hospital visit, and we will try to
accomplish that. Today we had one doctor visit for each generation (my mom, myself,
and my daughter) -- plus my dad's outpatient procedure.
My wife has been great. My oldest daughter, Eva, has been a terrific help. My youngest
daughters have been solid. My youngest brother took control of what needed to be
controlled. My middle brother soldiered through his discomfort. My ex wife helped. My
mom was amazing, fighting through her infection. There is no substitute for a family that
pulls together. My dad must have done something right because he built the framework
for all of this since becoming a parent in 1967.
I'm tired just looking at the list of what happened today. I wish there was some witty
closing sentence I could use, but I have to recycle the one thing I said today that got my
dad to smile. While we were waiting for Dr. Lewis, I told my dad "you know, just three
more of these surgeries and the fourth one is free." It was nice to see him smile.
Posted by Gary Shuster at 08:09PM (-08:00)
Ignoring the Sword of Damocles
Monday, March 12, 2012
Dad wrote a post a little more than a year ago asking "Is This What it is Like to be on
Death Row?" He posited that "in a way, my situation is similar to that of somebody on
death row. Merkel cell cancer is the executioner. Dr Nghiem is my defense attorney. He
My Battle with Merkel Cell Cancer
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