Let’s Chat: Life changes quickly

By Linda Tooth on September 4, 2024.

Hello readers. I am here with another update on my partner’s health, and boy have things changed since my last article.

He was discharged from the Rockyview Hospital after they did a biopsy on his kidney. I was back at home working when I got the call that he was coming home. The doctor told him it could take a while before we had the results and there was no point in him sitting in the hospital. Thankfully, a family member was in Calgary for an appointment and brought him home.

More waiting took place before we finally got a call last week to be back at the hospital as there was a bed available and surgery was a go. Our admittance this time went much better than the last and he was in his room within 30 minutes of checking in.

Surgery was going to consist of the removal of the cancerous intestine area and the removal of a cancerous kidney. Oh my god, this is really serious and life has now changed in a matter of days.

He came through surgery very well. It has now been 72 hours and he is up walking three times a day and able to sit up for extended periods watching movies and sports on his iPad.

His doctor is impressed with his progress and so am I. He must be able to eat solid foods and be able to have solid bowel movements before they will even think of discharging him. This is reality.

People keep asking how I am doing through all this. First, humour is so important to me. I must be able to laugh or I will cry crocodile tears, and it will not be pretty.

I have told the nursing staff to try to scale back their level of care for him. I know he is handsome and has a slight accent (or as I like to call it, a speech impediment) but they are pampering him too much. I have told them and him he may be disappointed with his level of care when he gets home.

Second, I am exhausted. Watching someone you care deeply for when their health is in dire need takes a lot out of you. I have not physically stopped and am happy to report that I have contributed hundreds of dollars to second-hand clothing stores in Calgary. I am not even sure I remember everything I bought but I am sure it will look good some day.

Last, I am so forever grateful for the love and support we have received through this journey. First off, to the staff at the Medicine Hat Regional Hospital.

Thank you for discovering that my partner was not well by doing the colonoscopies and sigmoidoscopy. It was from this that we got the referral and took it to Calgary.

To the staff at the Peter Lougheed Hospital for the colonoscopy done by a doctor, who I am sure looked like Doogie Howser. I even asked if he was old enough to be working at the hospital.

From another referral, we were off to the Rockyview Hospital and Dr. Jenken, the colorectal surgeon. The staff at that hospital are utterly amazing.

To our family and friends, your love and support have been received. To my friends in Calgary who opened their home to me and even gave me my own key, thank you!

I have come to appreciate that we must be thankful for each day we have here. You never know what life will throw at you.