Category: family

About my BIL’s health.

As you may remember he was diagnosed with Stage III oral cancer last year and underwent tumor and lymph node resection and radiation.

To be honest, post-radiation, his quality of life has been greatly reduced. Radiation to the oral cavity area can permanently damage saliva production and that’s been the case for him. Swallowing, eating, speaking — these are all a chore now. You don’t realize how much you need saliva until you don’t have it anymore. The man is a psychologist and needs to talk to do his job. His energy post-radiation is also tremendously impaired.

A few weeks ago, he started having pain again in the same area as before. This isn’t a good sign. Oral cancer is notoriously aggressive and, if it recurs, it tends to do so within 2 years. He is waiting on another PET scan to see what is going on. My sister has told no one else in the family but me and MB. Her kids have no idea — which is as it should be right now. My oldest nephew is away from home, a sophomore in college; my middle nephew is deep in the throes of his heavily disassociated teen years; and Piper is Piper, happily ensconced in 5th grade. They don’t need to know unless and until there is something to know.

So any prayers you can spare would be appreciated, pippa.

So you know how bad stuff tends to cluster and good stuff spreads itself out all thin-like?

Yeah.

Well, FIL had a heart attack Wednesday night.

They were at a campground in the mountains past Mammoth Mountain, CA when it happened.

He had to be life-flighted into Reno, 4 hours away from their home in the deep dark middle of nowhere.

He needs bypass.

They can’t do open heart surgery at the hospital in the deep dark middle of nowhere because they don’t have a heart-lung machine.

And I’m sure health insurance covers emergency flights to Reno in the dead of night, right?

My MIL has only the clothes on her back. Campground and motorhome abandoned in haste.

She has a bone spur on her heel and can’t walk well.

That hospital is nothing but long ass hallways made fer walkin’.

Oh, and meanwhile, back in the deep dark middle of nowhere, their dumb old dog, Beau of the Big Anus, is dying and needs to be put down.

FIL is insisting that no one touch the dog or his big anus until he can say goodbye, which is frankly pissing us all off, because the poor dog is in a very bad way.

MB caught a last-minute flight to Reno. Hey, did you know those things aren’t cheap?

Among other things, someone needs to take my MIL, poor woman, to Target in Reno just to get some damn underwear.

A neighbor has already dug a hole for Beau in my in-law’s backyard.

(Yep, all their dead critters are buried there. It’s gross, it skeeves me out, it’s The Killing Fields and Pet Sematary all in one, there are nothing but mountains all around them in which to bury their pets, but nooooo, they’re all taking dirt naps in the backyard and, oh, would you like a Beau-Tomato from their garden?)

I just hope any future buyers of that house don’t want to put in a pool. They’ll think my in-laws were serial killers.

I am getting blow-by-blow email descriptions from the neighbors watching old blind Beau whine and moan and bonk into things. They are so frustrated by FIL’s edict that Beau must “stay alive, no matter what occurs,” it’s hysterical.

I recommended they just leave old blind Beau out in the backyard killing fields. He’ll eventually fall into his pre-arranged hole, et voila! Anxiety gives you a sick sense of humor.

But see what happens when you go camping, pippa?

FIL is having open heart surgery as I write this.

Prayers appreciated.

Stupid Beau and his stupid big anus.