I'm ready to open a can of "Whup Ass"

I saw a t-shirt the other day that said, "If it's got tires or testicles, it's going to give you trouble." Well, there's a couple of pairs of testicles out there I'm about ready to kick...one I know for sure, and one I have a good guess on.

Last Monday, Debbie had her first infusion with the new chemo drugs prescribed by Dr. Jonas. To get ready for these new drugs Deb had to take B12, folic acid and steroids. The good news is the infusion only lasted an hour and a half instead of eight hours and Dr. Jonas said the side effects should be less with this new regimen. When he came to check on her, Debbie told him she was having a hard time getting her head in the right place after the news he gave her the week before. She felt like she should just go out, smoke a cigarette, have a stiff drink and chase it with a cup of sugar (something she's been avoiding because she tells me "cancer feeds on sugar.")

Well, Dr. Jonas, he of the defeatist attitude (I'm sure he'd call it being realistic) told her that if that made her happy for the time she has left, to go ahead and drink and eat candy bars.

Oh, bartender...one can of whup ass to go, please. God, that makes me so mad...Would a little compassion and optimism be too freakin' much to ask?

I had heard a commercial for Piedmont Hospital that said they had something called "patient navigators," folks that are basically advocates and help you through all this with advice, support, etc. So I called and the nicest woman, Arrington, told me she'd meet with Debbie.

So that happened on Monday as well. I know Debbie had a hard time with some of the aspects of the discussion, especially living wills, hospice, etc. Arrington is supposed to be talking with Debbie's doctors in the hopes that they'll talk to one another, and also working with Debbie to get a different oncologist so we can wave goodbye to Dr. Doom.

The second butt to get kicked, is not so clear cut. Because Debbie hasn't been able to work for a few years, and had not yet been approved for any sort of disability benefits, my three siblings and I agreed to each send her a check every month to help her get by. Deb and I were talking last week and she said my youngest sister had only sent her 3-4 checks in the last two years. While this was incredulous to me, Debbie said she never mentioned it before because it wasn't mandatory that anyone send her money. You'd have to know my youngest sister to know she would not NOT send Debbie money....the woman has a big heart. So, being the big mouth buttinski that I am, I told my sister about it and she said that not only had she been sending checks, but she had cancelled checks for the past two years. She felt awful that this entire time Debbie thought she didn't care enough to help her.

We don't know for certain who took the checks, but when we consider opportunity (who gets the mail) and motive (who needs money to buy drugs) and the fact that for whatever reason my sister had made her checks out to "cash" then something tells me it's someone pretty darn close to Debbie...pretty darn close. Tina wants to just move on now that we know about the situation, but Detective Debbie wants to analyze the handwriting and nail somebody's butt to the wall.

There's a lot more drama to report but it will have to wait until the next post.

Next post: Taking out the Trash