[BobbyB]

Spring urges growth, change
Apr 30, 2008 04:30 AM
Joe Fiorito

You might pick up some plum wine and head to High Park for the cherry blossoms. They are a brief and beautiful vision. And if we have no Mt. Fuji in the distance, at least there are swans on the pond and now and then you can see the streetcar floating in the distance past the lake.

Bring your notepad, scribble a haiku.

April ends, and here is an indication of the power of the press: You recall Cynthia Xavier, who has Lou Gehrig's disease. She cannot get out of bed. Her paralysis progresses inevitably. She has been getting a measly 14 hours care a week.

Try that yourself. Stay in bed. Don't move. Depend on others for your needs, urgent as they may be, for two lousy hours a day.

Cynthia is resisting the move to a nursing home. She wants – no, she needs – yes, she deserves – to live in an attended-care facility. Her mind is sharp. She does not want to waste the time she has left.

The good news? Since we last talked, a couple of agencies have expressed interest in providing help. The results so far? One extra hour of care a week.

Many readers also offered help, but there is no mechanism in place for screening. There is hope things will improve – not her condition, but her care – yet hope changes no linen late at night.

A second indication of the power of the press: You recall Bob Hodgart, who lost everything he had in that fire on Queen St. He still has no place of his own. He remains in shock over the loss of his cameras, his photos, his woodworking tools, all his possessions.

He is staying with his ex for the time being, but they divorced a generation ago and the arrangement is not without discomfort. Bob is in his 80s. He is running out of time.

I got a note from his ex the other day to say he has had two visits from people who are trying to help him find a new apartment. She writes:

"There appear to be a number of seniors' residences in this area and there was a good possibility of a one-bedroom for him, and he got the impression he was on a `preferred list.' Having said that ... no news so far."

This is not how the story is supposed to end. Bob ought not to be unmoored at this stage of his life.

A final note.

You recall my friend Wendy, who ended up in isolation at North York General. She was required to unhook herself from her monitors and make her way back and forth to a public washroom in Emergency while she was contagious. I got much similar mail and also this, from S.C. in Stratford:

"I trained as a nurse in the `good old days' of white uniforms, stockings, shoes and caps. Two things we were taught in `Nursing 101' – before you do anything else upon entering a patient's room, or going from one patient to another – you WASH YOUR HANDS and you never, never wear your uniform outside of the hospital. The theory was you ran the risk of contaminating the general public and your patients.

"What happened?

"There is yet another outbreak of MRSA and VRE (contagious infections) at our hospital. The health unit has declared these superbugs to be `community acquired.' Well, quelle surprise! – you cannot go to the supermarket without running into people wearing scrubs. It matters not whether they are medical personnel or cleaning staff, hospital `bugs' and community `bugs' should not be mixed, in my opinion."

Plum wine, anyone?

Joe Fiorito usually appears Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

Email: jfiorito@thestar.ca


http://www.thestar.com/GTA/Columnist/article/419756