***UPDATE 6/24: Amazingly enough, I found her Christmas card in which I taped her return address label! I plugged her address into my Contact info in Outlook and then ordered a beautiful but simple bouquet of Oriental White Lilies to be sent to her house tomorrow, with a rather sweet message on the card, if I do say so myself. :) Pete got me three bouquets of flowers for our anniversary last week (long story) and the first one had these same lilies in it. O M G they smell SOOOOO GOOD! I've never smelled a lily quite as sweet and strong as this kind and they've lasted well over a week now! So I was super glad I had the option to send these same lilies to my doctor. In the note, I said (among other things), "May the lovely scent of these flowers help to lift your spirits." Mmmmm I wish I could put a Scratch-N-Sniff dealy on this post for you to smell, too!
I don't know what caused her husband's death and I don't intend to pry to find out. But I do know it was something that has been ongoing since one of her assistants told me two weeks ago that he was in the hospital and that "it doesn't look good this time." ?? I do hope she returns to the clinic someday but in my honest opinion, if I were a Medical Oncologist and my husband died of cancer (just a guess here, really), I don't think that I'd return to my practice for fear that my patients would lose a lot of faith in my ability to heal them. I may sound crass with that assumption but that's just something I've been thinking about since yesterday's news.
Anyway, I wish her and her family well and I hope the flowers we sent her can lift her spirits just a wee bit in this hard time. ***
I know what to do when a family member dies, or when a close friend passes on. But I am at a loss when it comes to my Oncologist's husband's passing! Nobody will tell me his name or what exactly happened that landed him in the hospital a week and a half ago -- probably has something to do with that "doctor-patient confidentiality." I can accept that.
Do I send flowers? Or a card? If either or both, where do I send them since Doc won't be at the clinic for an unspecified length of time (oh, I do so hope she returns!)? We swap emails from time to time with cute cat jokes or my medical questions. But I don't feel comfortable sending her an E-Sympathy Card! I had her home address when she sent us a Christmas card in December. If only I could find it, I would dig that out and use that address to send my condolences.
Yeah. That's what I'll do. Go look for that Christmas card and go from there.
I cried for a good half hour when I heard from her scheduler that her husband had passed this morning. Death just downright makes me sad, no matter who it is or how it happened. It's just plain depressing, to say the least.
This is a blog about us Honeys. We've been married for 6 years, live in Littleton, CO, have a Chihuahua named Dobby, a Rat Terrier named Scarlett, three awesome cats (all referred to as our Furry Kids!) and some fish.
In November 2007 I was diagnosed with Cholangiocarcinoma (bile duct cancer of the liver) and nave been undergoing chemotherapy since December '07 & Proton Radiation Therapy at M.D. Anderson in Houston, TX from December '08 - February '09, and then back on eternal chemo until we get the tumor to shrink away from one salvageable vein in the liver so that it can be surgically removed. We use this blog to keep family and friends updated on our struggles, loves, challenges, celebrations, goals, ideas and the general daily grind!
In November 2007 I was diagnosed with Cholangiocarcinoma (bile duct cancer of the liver) and nave been undergoing chemotherapy since December '07 & Proton Radiation Therapy at M.D. Anderson in Houston, TX from December '08 - February '09, and then back on eternal chemo until we get the tumor to shrink away from one salvageable vein in the liver so that it can be surgically removed. We use this blog to keep family and friends updated on our struggles, loves, challenges, celebrations, goals, ideas and the general daily grind!
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
What Should I Do?
Posted by Garnet at 11:32 AM
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4 comments:
Hmm... maybe just some flowers? I think if you guys send Christmas cards, then it is probably ok to send them to her home.
Definitely stay away from the E-Sympathy Card! :)
Abbey,
I'm sure a card with your personal message in it would mean a lot to her. Even if you can't find her home address, you could hand it to her when she returns to the office, along with a good, long hug.....
Jane
If you can't find her home address, then it'd be fine to send a note to her at the clinic. The staff there will probably forward it, along with their own condolences. And please accept my sympathy -- for the vicarious grief caused by your caring empathy for your friend and doctor, and for the temporary loss of her support.
One of my medical research people (at a cancer treatment center) told me recently that he lost his father to cancer soon after he got that job. I think it would be hard, but also a reason to continue in the field if you lost a loved one to cancer.
I think the flowers were perfect!
Good luck to you
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