I can just picture ten year old Mark, home from school sick, and his poor mother being run ragged trying to take care of the little drama queen.
Mark is sick again, and it's not funny. It's not funny for him, nor is it funny for me, but for different reasons. As I have mentioned before, Mark has bad lungs and he won't quit smoking. Friday I went through the house and found all the cigarette packs I could and threw them in the garbage. This was after almost a week of being kept awake by the constant rattle of a smokers hack and cough. His coughing, of course didn't keep him from spending more than one night of partying in smoky bars, so that the effect of smoking was doubled.
When I am sick, I just want to be left alone. Mark on the other hand thinks of it as an excuse to do scenes from a soap opera. He needs constant attention, and care, neither of which I am capable of giving. Those qualities were doled out to my sisters who apparently got such a large dose, that they became nurses just to use up the excess. When Mark finally runs himself down to the point he can't get out of bed, he starts up with the demands. "Make me tea", "Make me soup", and of course the inevitable, "Stay here so that I can keep complaining to you".
I always know when it is going to get bad, because he starts huffing and puffing and complaining that he can't breath. Usually he reaches his worst condition on a weekend when he knows that the doctor is out, and I will have to take him to the emergency room. This time however, he has held off because I just keep asking him, "Is is time to call 911 yet?".
I don't know how this one will turn out, but I am going to try to hold on until Monday when he can go to his regular doctor. If I can get him to take enough Tylenol PM, I just might make it.
Update as of 2PM (1400 for those in Europe) Monday, Mark has been admitted to the hospital with pneumonia. I pretty much expected it, because I have gone through this with him at least four times.
ReplyDeleteSmokers do not get to use any of the "excess" energy I don't have! Those who insist on pulling toxins into their lungs just have to suffer alone. When I found out that Laura was smoking while I spent excesses of $$$ at the allergist for her asthma....I said no more! Thank God she and Dustin are smoke-free, they are "born-again" non-smokers after seeing what it did to the walls in their house by the renters who lived there before them!
ReplyDeleteHope Mark is resting easier now that he’s in the hospital. Maybe you will get some rest too. We can only hope as you do that he finally stops smoking. Get well soon Mark!
ReplyDeleteAlan: I am sorry to hear about Mark. I am off to bowling right now but will give him a call and/or visit him. Give me the info on where he is at, etc. My best....
ReplyDeleteSo sad he has to go through this again. I will pray that he pulls through again. Hopefully, this will be another wake up call to stop smoking.
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