My Mother

I started this piece very shortly after Mom passed away.  It was hard too write and even harder to revisit to actually finish it up.  I can't say I have reread the whole piece, but I think it's ok, and I want to share it with some people who have been important to me and my mother.  I have also posted a brief slide show, which you are welcome to view on BarrettPhoto.us.  Following is what I wrote late last year...

Barbara Ann Barrett — Born April 13, 1933, quietly passed away in her sleep from cancer on August 19, 2016, at about 7:05am.  That is how I began her obituary posted on Adams-Green website. Quietly passed away in her sleep sounds like an euphemism, a wishful memory of what might have been, but in my mother’s case, it is remarkably accurate, though brief description of the event. I want to expand on that, provide a few more details from my memory for my memory, so that I can clearly, accurately, recall the related events that preceded it.

Mom’s battle with rectal cancer began in the fall of 2013 at the same time I had a life threatening health crisis. My intrepid wife had us both in the hospital, different hospitals, shuttling between to oversee our care.  Mom’s doctors, unsurprisingly suggested a witches brew of chemo, radiology and surgical treatments, steps that might stop the disease but with a high cost in side effects and life altering changes. 

2014: July Health Crisis

This past Friday (7/25) my coughing jags and mild fever got to annoying for my very patient wife, she told me I needed to go the doctor.  While it didn't seem too serious to me, I certainly didn't feel well and if Linda wants someone to go the doctor, they certainly should.

First Doctor Visit, 7/25

Dr. Harding had picked this Friday to get an early start on his vacation, so I got a same day appointment with another doctor in the Town Center Family Medicine practice. As I ran down my symptoms, fatigue, no endurance, persistent headache (the kind where it seems someone is driving a nail ever deeper), fever (100-101.5°F), general aches, and joint pain in my hip, I realized I was describing the flu minus nausea, which according to WebMD is a good summary of the symptoms of walking pneumonia.

2013: Necrotizing Pancreatitis

A little bit more than a year ago, I had a health crisis that could easily have been the literal death of me. I want to share some of my experience during the event, though I can but hope to do it justice.

The event began in late August 2013 when abdominal discomfort grew worse and I had a measurable fever. My wife and son rushed me to INOVA Fair Oaks Hospital ER where they looked at me just for a moment and took me straight to a bed.  The nurses and ER doc buzzed around me, connecting two IVs, dosing me with Dilaudid, a strong opioid pain killer and anti-nasuea meds while examining me. I didn't realize it at the time, but the speed of treatment was my first indication of the severity of the problem.