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12 to 18 Months (Day 3)

Dec 22nd, 2009 | By Ben Peek | Category: Uncategorized

12 to 18 Months

Day Three

How you feeling today?

Better than last week.

Not so short on breath.

That’s good.

My tests came back?

Yes. I’m afraid there’s no easy way for me to say this, but–

You have asbestosis.

Asbestosis?

It’s–it’s an inflammation on the lungs–

I know what it is.

My husband died from it 23 years ago.

That’s probably around the time you contracted it.

I never worked in the mines though. I certainly never worked for Hardy’s–and, and it’s 23 years.

Unfortunately, it would have just been passive exposure for you.

You would have washed your husbands clothes.

You would have shared a bed with him.

That would have exposed you to the asbestos back then.

Why–why so long before it showed?

It can have a thirty year incubation cycle–

Would you like some tissues?

…

Yes.

…

Thank you.

It’s nothing.

I was–I was doing so well.

Until a month ago, I would have said you were the healthiest 83 year old woman I knew.

And now?

Well, you’re not the sickest.

…

I’m sorry, that was not the best thing to say.

It’s okay.

It’s not.

But lets not dwell on that.

There’s lots of things we can to make things easier for you, specialists I know who are very good in their field–

There’s no cure, is there?

No.

(The 12 Days of Christmas. The woman in this story is called Jean. She’s my mother’s neighbour.)