We Didn't See That Coming

Last week I mentioned my first cousin who was in a nursing home after having a couple of strokes. It turned out he was doing rehab and was within a few weeks of being released. Unfortunately, a nurse got mad about something and started cussing him out. He got upset and started cussing back at her. His blood pressure spiked and caused a stroke that sent him to the hospital where he had another stroke, a light heart attack and more strokes. Etc, etc. I was finally able to go see him yesterday afternoon. During the drive there, he had more problems. By the time I got there, he was unconscious and expected to die by midnight or this morning. He's still alive at the moment, but the last treatment they can do is not working.
If I had a car, I'd have gone to see him last week, when things were looking good. Maybe the nurses would have noticed a visitor from out of town and treated him better. That's been known to happen.

I had another first cousin on that side of the family who died in 2009 of medical malpractice after a surgeon made a mistake that ended up being fatal. Our uncle died a week after that. I imagine the stress played a role.

My dad needed heart surgery in 2007, but the insurance company refused to pay until the last minute, since it would cost them about $250,000. This is standard practice in the US. A lot of people die before the surgery. It saves insurance companies an amazing amount of money that way. Because of the delay, another problem that led to his death wasn't diagnosed by any of his doctors until it was too late, and even then, they didn't know exactly what he had. He completely recovered from the heart surgery, but by 2013 there was no time to figure out a treatment for the other problem. It's almost like that side of the family is cursed.

If you're a European reader, you might get the impression that the American medical system is bloodthirsty and pure crap. Not all the time. Not for everyone. It $$$ depends $$$ on $$$ certain $$$ factors.

So, my other first cousin on the other side of the family has had a few chemo treatments. I don't know all the details of the situation, but it doesn't sound good. The daughter whose wedding she went to in Europe before doing chemo flew in to see her.

I haven't made quite as much progress on the book, but I'm still seeing decent progress. I still think before June 21st is realistic. I haven't done anything on the YA book. I'd like to think I can get that out in June. It's basically done. I just need to go in and do the final polishing and fix anything I haven't noticed before now.