My dad was diagnosed with cancer back in November of last year. Because his platelet count was sitting at just 30, the anesthesiologist at Varaždin OB refused to clear him for surgery, even after they tried giving him plasma...
They sent him for radiation instead, since chemo wasn't even an option given his blood work. He had to go to Johns Hopkins Hospital for the treatments. It was supposed to be six weeks, one session every weekday, but it ended up stretching past nine weeks because their machines were constantly breaking down. Just imagine... traveling by ambulance from point A to point B and back every single day, only to arrive at point B and have them tell you, "Sorry, nothing today, the machine is broken." After the radiation finished, things actually took a turn for the worse. He lost 35 pounds. He couldn't eat anything at all, just the protein shakes they prescribed for him. His ENT told him his throat looked like he’d survived Chernobyl. At his oncology follow-up three months later, they sent him back to Johns Hopkins, where they turned him down for surgery yet again due to his blood counts...
In early May, his ENT referred him to the Cancer Clinic. Dr. Grgic Pastorcic took him in, and after being rejected for surgery twice before, he finally went under the knife... purely because this doctor refused to give up on him.
Sadly, he caught a bacterial infection. His body just isn't strong enough to fight it off right now. We were holding out hope, praying... until yesterday, when they called my mom saying she should come in this morning to see him. I'm angry. I just can't believe that in the 21st century, you can still catch an infection like this. I'm angry because they waited so long... I have five hundred questions racing through my head. But honestly, I don't even know who I'm mad at. His wound is actually healing okay, but because of this stupid infection, he's losing his sight, he's losing everything bit by bit. He can't speak anymore, he's on morphine, and he's still in pain... And then the anger fades, and there's just this wave of sadness. It comes in waves...
I'm just glad they kept him in the hospital. Last December, I dealt with a similar situation with my father, and they ended up sending him home... he passed away only three days after they let him go. My mom has MS, and I'm not sure—she says it herself—that she could handle this kind of thing...
We live abroad. I was so happy when I bought the tickets to come home and see him, but in the end, I won't make it in time. I gave birth thirteen months ago... in that time, the baby has already lost two grandfathers without them ever getting the chance to hold him.
Sending strength to everyone fighting through the grief, the pain... and the anger.
They sent him for radiation instead, since chemo wasn't even an option given his blood work. He had to go to Johns Hopkins Hospital for the treatments. It was supposed to be six weeks, one session every weekday, but it ended up stretching past nine weeks because their machines were constantly breaking down. Just imagine... traveling by ambulance from point A to point B and back every single day, only to arrive at point B and have them tell you, "Sorry, nothing today, the machine is broken." After the radiation finished, things actually took a turn for the worse. He lost 35 pounds. He couldn't eat anything at all, just the protein shakes they prescribed for him. His ENT told him his throat looked like he’d survived Chernobyl. At his oncology follow-up three months later, they sent him back to Johns Hopkins, where they turned him down for surgery yet again due to his blood counts...
In early May, his ENT referred him to the Cancer Clinic. Dr. Grgic Pastorcic took him in, and after being rejected for surgery twice before, he finally went under the knife... purely because this doctor refused to give up on him.
Sadly, he caught a bacterial infection. His body just isn't strong enough to fight it off right now. We were holding out hope, praying... until yesterday, when they called my mom saying she should come in this morning to see him. I'm angry. I just can't believe that in the 21st century, you can still catch an infection like this. I'm angry because they waited so long... I have five hundred questions racing through my head. But honestly, I don't even know who I'm mad at. His wound is actually healing okay, but because of this stupid infection, he's losing his sight, he's losing everything bit by bit. He can't speak anymore, he's on morphine, and he's still in pain... And then the anger fades, and there's just this wave of sadness. It comes in waves...
I'm just glad they kept him in the hospital. Last December, I dealt with a similar situation with my father, and they ended up sending him home... he passed away only three days after they let him go. My mom has MS, and I'm not sure—she says it herself—that she could handle this kind of thing...
We live abroad. I was so happy when I bought the tickets to come home and see him, but in the end, I won't make it in time. I gave birth thirteen months ago... in that time, the baby has already lost two grandfathers without them ever getting the chance to hold him.
Sending strength to everyone fighting through the grief, the pain... and the anger.