Clarence
12.21.08 (1:04 pm) [edit]
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Clarence
Early last week, Clarence, one of those who stay in our infirmary complained of nausea and was having trouble eating. So when went we went in for his dialysis on Tuesday, I asked the Doctor who is there to please check him out before the procedure to see if he was alright. As I was waiting in the front area, the Doctor came out and told me that they would do his dialysis and if needed, send him to the Emergency room by ambulance afterward. So I left, planning to come back in four hours if I was not called.
When I returned at 3 PM, the nurse in charge told me that the Doctor wanted him to go to the ER to try to see what was causing the nausea; trying to stay on the safe side I guess. When we arrived I could see that it was going to be along wait. So we checked in, waited an hour and a half and on seeing that no was called to the triage office I knew there was a problem in the back. I talked to one of the women behind the front desk to ask her how things were going. She notified me that the back was full and there were some ambulances also on the way, so it would be a very long wait for us. She also informed me that quite a few in the back were sick with a virus that was going around. When I heard that, I decided to bring Clarence back to the infirmary, since his immune system was already compromised, there was a good chance he could also pick up the virus. Adding to that the deep level of his fatigue only strengthened my resolve that I really needed to get him out of there.
The next day, Rose called his primary physician to see what needed to be done. So Clarence was put on a clear diet for two days, and on the third day allowed to eat bland food only and was to be brought into the office after his dialysis, Thursday afternoon. After checking him out, he was sent to the hospital for some test, to see what the problem with his stomach was. He was in the hospital for 4 days and the results brought back showed that he had a yeast infection from his use of antibiotics, which he is on quite often. So he was put on a medicine to deal with that and sent home.
Of course being in bed for four days made him much weaker than he was before entering the hospital, which if truth be told, was not that strong in first place. After he was home for a couple of days he started talking about dying, he felt so weak and still had his nausea. So Rose and I talked to him. We encouraged him to get out of bed, go to the front room and to watch the news on TV. He loves CNN and also Fox as well, also channel 11, a local channel. We put him in a lazy boy near the TV and he started to feel a little better, and we got him to keep his liquid consumption up to where it needed to be. He also was able to eat some foods.
He also asked us to please arrange for him to be anointed with Holy Oils, which we did. That evening he was surrounded by the community and the prayers were said and the oils applied, which brought him great comfort. For Catholics it is a healing sacrament as well as for one who is near death, so it was appropriate for him to receive it. As I watched him, sitting in the chair, weak and tired, it made me wonder how it must be to be in that position, death if not immediate, is coming in the near future, perhaps days, weeks or months, maybe a year or two, but not much more than that. Dialysis is a two edge sword, giving life, extending it and at the same time causing many diverse problems for the body to put up with. Many simply stop after awhile and allow nature to take its course. Don’t know which way it will go for Clarence, but in the meantime we will do whatever we can for him in the way of encouragement. He is clear minded so he will call the shots. At this time unless he states other wise we will do whatever is needed to keep him alive in the event of a problem that is life threatened. Unusual for a place like ours, but there or no wrong or right ways for someone who is dealing with end of life issues.
When I stared working with the elderly and the many health problems that most seem to have when they get into their 70 and above, I was quite young. So my charges were 40 or 50 years older than me. Now the divide is closing in, so that now I am only 11 years younger than one of my charges. Luke is 98 so there is still quite a few years between, but with Clarence there is only 25 years, which seems like a lot, but really is not. I guess I feel that way because of the rapidity in which the years pass. It does not frighten me, it just makes me pause and ponder what that means to me.
I am not saying Clarence is always easy taking care of, but I do love and respect him. In fact the bond seems to be stronger with those that can bring out moments of conflict and misunderstanding, for in the end, forgiveness is needed on both sides. Like Clarence I am still a rough piece of art in the making. There is however a certain grace to how he handles things, for he really does have a lot of aliments to deal with. Yet he still seems to enjoy life, though the last couple of weeks have put him under a lot of strain.
I think I will promise him that if he gets better, I will take him out for a nice lunch and he can have a couple of drinks with his meal. The doctor has told me that once in awhile it will be ok and it does Clarence good. He will often when eating out, give me a history of his family, which is really quite interesting, though it can be long and drawn out. Well he does have a very large family.