Roger
The following is the tail end of a periodic letter I would send to my son Patrick’s godmother Della in Langley. About a year ago she learned she had melanoma and this was my poor attempt, along with some phone calls to make her smile for a moment.
Building a Garage.
On Saturday 29 June, as I do most weekends recently, I went next door to help my neighbour Jean Noel with his year long project of building a garage. He gets up on the scaffolding (l’echafaudage, you learn a new word every day). I fill the bucket with cement and Jean Noel pulls it up on a rope. I was walking into the garage with a full bucket thinking I should get a fresh bag of cement when I put my right foot on a loose piece of wood and fell like I had been shot. Jean Noel scrambled down and tried to pull me to my feet, but you probably remember the experience where your body is telling you “stay exactly where you are for a while until I figure out how bad things are.”
The following is the tail end of a periodic letter I would send to my son Patrick’s godmother Della in Langley. About a year ago she learned she had melanoma and this was my poor attempt, along with some phone calls to make her smile for a moment.
Building a Garage.
On Saturday 29 June, as I do most weekends recently, I went next door to help my neighbour Jean Noel with his year long project of building a garage. He gets up on the scaffolding (l’echafaudage, you learn a new word every day). I fill the bucket with cement and Jean Noel pulls it up on a rope. I was walking into the garage with a full bucket thinking I should get a fresh bag of cement when I put my right foot on a loose piece of wood and fell like I had been shot. Jean Noel scrambled down and tried to pull me to my feet, but you probably remember the experience where your body is telling you “stay exactly where you are for a while until I figure out how bad things are.”
After a bit he pulled me up, we finished the pour we were doing and I stumbled off home. I had a painful shower and then spent Sunday to Wednesday with my foot soaking in a bucket of water and ice. As that was not working on Wednesday I drove the trusty old 2CV to the doctors office in Montolieu, he pushed my ankle in a few places and told me, after he had called them, to go to the emergency room in the Clinic de Montreal in Carcassonne. I told him I would drive there right away. He said no your ankle is broken and get a friend to take me as I would probably not be able to drive back.
I drove home, note driving up hill is less painful than down as no braking is required, called my friend Pierre and that afternoon he drive me to the Clinic. With the system in France you go in, hand them your medical card, they stick it in the computer reader and that takes care of the paperwork. They put me in a room, a doctor took a look, poked my ankle and sent me for an x-ray. About 15 minutes later he came back to the room, snapped the x-ray in the light frame, told me my ankle was broken and asked how I had managed, even using a cane, to get around on it for 4 days. My answer, probably because I am stupid. He wrote me a number of prescriptions, told me to make an appointment with a specialist for the next week, and then two nurses came in and started putting a cast on my leg.
I drove home, note driving up hill is less painful than down as no braking is required, called my friend Pierre and that afternoon he drive me to the Clinic. With the system in France you go in, hand them your medical card, they stick it in the computer reader and that takes care of the paperwork. They put me in a room, a doctor took a look, poked my ankle and sent me for an x-ray. About 15 minutes later he came back to the room, snapped the x-ray in the light frame, told me my ankle was broken and asked how I had managed, even using a cane, to get around on it for 4 days. My answer, probably because I am stupid. He wrote me a number of prescriptions, told me to make an appointment with a specialist for the next week, and then two nurses came in and started putting a cast on my leg.
I asked them to make it as small as possible so I could drive. They thought this was funny and told me that if you have a cast your car insurance is not valid. Pierre took me home, stopping on the way to pick up my prescriptions. These included painkillers, and to my surprise a bunch of hypodermic needles charged with medicine. It was then that I learned that in order to prevent blood clots a nurse would be coming to my house every morning to give me an injection, plus a blood test twice a week to check my platelet count.
The next day, Thursday the nurse arrived just after breakfast, introduced herself and used a lot of French medical phrases unknown to me and indicated it was time for the the blood draw. That done, it takes the edge of your second cup of coffee, she suggested we do the injection. I proffered my right arm she shook her head and indicated my nether regions. So I struggled to my feet, turned my back, undid my belt, drew down my clean underwear, mother had warned me, and offered her my somewhat tense right Irish cheek. A bit of painless time went by so I looked over my should to see a puzzled nurse with a hypodermic in her hand. In response to my inquiry about her presumed preference for left cheeks she replied that in France they give injections in the stomach. So pivoting manfully I presented my stomach and she grasped a handful of my ample avoir dupois and stuck a needle in it. There is a first time for everything and I now have a third alternative for the popular question are you cold or were you born that way.
On Thursday 10 July Pierre took me back to the Clinic to see the specialist. He cut off the temporary cast, looked at the x-ray and cheerfully advised me I would probably need a total of 45 days with my right leg in a cast. I told him, hopefully that this was not possible as I had only enough syringes for 30 morning injections in my stomach. He smiled and told me not to worry, call my doctor and he would order me up another 15 which the nurse would pick up for me at the pharmacy.
Stuck at home after four weeks learning to walk on a couple of crutches that reach to your elbows and fall immediately to the floor each time you rest them against something, I have had lots of time to very slowly do some of the things I used to do and to consider the future and realize what limited mobility does to our presumed entitlement to a normal life.
Last week I received this.
Hi John.
I’m so sorry to have to tell you this, but Della died at 3:15 this afternoon. The end was gentle and comfortable, although I could hear her silently telling us to get the hell out of her room and have a glass of wine and stop scaring her with our silly long faces. She’d slipped into unconsciousness two days ago, but her voice was still inside our heads.
Perry’s at the Hospice with Chris, the other Musketeer, making arrangements, but I’m sure she’d have wanted you to have a better farewell party drinking wine and eating moules on the ramparts of Carcassonne – all the while resting that incalcitrant ankle.
I’ll write more later. Della heard your last letter and she responded with a smile when I told her you sent your love.
Take care. Rene
I had the cast removed today, have another week of injections and am told to behave cautiously when walking outside.
I can hear the sound of Della’s voice n my head but cannot remember what we were talking about, and somtimes my eyes fill with tears.
Be well.
John
The next day, Thursday the nurse arrived just after breakfast, introduced herself and used a lot of French medical phrases unknown to me and indicated it was time for the the blood draw. That done, it takes the edge of your second cup of coffee, she suggested we do the injection. I proffered my right arm she shook her head and indicated my nether regions. So I struggled to my feet, turned my back, undid my belt, drew down my clean underwear, mother had warned me, and offered her my somewhat tense right Irish cheek. A bit of painless time went by so I looked over my should to see a puzzled nurse with a hypodermic in her hand. In response to my inquiry about her presumed preference for left cheeks she replied that in France they give injections in the stomach. So pivoting manfully I presented my stomach and she grasped a handful of my ample avoir dupois and stuck a needle in it. There is a first time for everything and I now have a third alternative for the popular question are you cold or were you born that way.
On Thursday 10 July Pierre took me back to the Clinic to see the specialist. He cut off the temporary cast, looked at the x-ray and cheerfully advised me I would probably need a total of 45 days with my right leg in a cast. I told him, hopefully that this was not possible as I had only enough syringes for 30 morning injections in my stomach. He smiled and told me not to worry, call my doctor and he would order me up another 15 which the nurse would pick up for me at the pharmacy.
Stuck at home after four weeks learning to walk on a couple of crutches that reach to your elbows and fall immediately to the floor each time you rest them against something, I have had lots of time to very slowly do some of the things I used to do and to consider the future and realize what limited mobility does to our presumed entitlement to a normal life.
Last week I received this.
Hi John.
I’m so sorry to have to tell you this, but Della died at 3:15 this afternoon. The end was gentle and comfortable, although I could hear her silently telling us to get the hell out of her room and have a glass of wine and stop scaring her with our silly long faces. She’d slipped into unconsciousness two days ago, but her voice was still inside our heads.
Perry’s at the Hospice with Chris, the other Musketeer, making arrangements, but I’m sure she’d have wanted you to have a better farewell party drinking wine and eating moules on the ramparts of Carcassonne – all the while resting that incalcitrant ankle.
I’ll write more later. Della heard your last letter and she responded with a smile when I told her you sent your love.
Take care. Rene
I had the cast removed today, have another week of injections and am told to behave cautiously when walking outside.
I can hear the sound of Della’s voice n my head but cannot remember what we were talking about, and somtimes my eyes fill with tears.
Be well.
John