Okay, maybe it isn't quite as bad as that, but I certainly get close.
Not only am I tackling the sixth book in the 'Friends, family and love' series 'Growing Love' and my #nanowrimo2018 project 'Diary of a Female GP' at the same time. I have also started a free writing course at International Writing Program, University of Iowa, today. The course is entitled 'Stories of Place: Writing & The Natural World'. The course has started today and you can still join if you wish. You can find it here: https://iowa.novoed.com/#!/courses/stories-of-place-iwp/flyer. The course is free as I said, is instructor-led from 15 November-31 December, but remains available for self-study until 15 March 2019.
Yes, I'm definitely a glutton for punishment. Other than that, my husband has requested me to come out of retirement and help him out in his business. I will shadow his manager from Monday the 19th, so I can support her and take over once she is forced to retire. Even though my husband does not want to lose her, and she does not want to retire yet, there may be little choice. For this eventuality, I need to get trained on the job. "My writing, my writing," I shake my head with my hands running through my hair. Okay, I'm sure I'll survive. Just less time to write.
So, here is the progress update for today. As expected, I have taken it easier today. Too many tasks to manage at the same time. The day started with research for my sixth book, I needed to double-check places and some details. Following that I wrote four scenes of 'Growing Love'. Not as much as I would have liked, but the #NaNoWriMo project was waiting too.
The next job was to write 'Diary of a Female GP'. Only one chapter, 1752 words today, bringing the total up to 79132 words. At least some of it was done today, right?
This afternoon I spent time on the course, not finishing the first task yet, but they advise a week for that, anyway.
And now for the image to go with the update and the excerpt from the work in progress as per usual. I hope you still enjoy this and I would love if you let me know what you think of the work so far.
Now I drive over to Trevor’s house. Trevor is only fifty-eight and terminally ill with bowel cancer. The district nurse was concerned he might not live beyond the weekend and requested a home visit for him today.
The main reason for this is to prevent unnecessary distress for the family. In the medical world, there is something we call the two-week-rule. If a patient dies, and he has not been seen by a doctor within the last two weeks of life, the coroner needs to be consulted. This may mean that a post-mortem examination will take place, even if a patient was expected to die due to a pre-existing illness. If, however, the patient was seen by a doctor within those two weeks, the doctor can issue a death certificate as long as the doctor is satisfied as to the cause of death and that no foul play is behind this.
Trevor was last seen a little over two weeks ago by one of my colleagues. I have not seen him for quite some time and when I walk in, I’m shocked at what I find.
Trevor always was a rather plump person, not quite obese, but certainly overweight. Today he resembles a skeleton, you can count his ribs and the jawbones are protruding. I can hardly recognise him.
Trevor meets my eyes and smiles, “Nice to see you, doc, not seen you for a long time.”
“Yes, you are right, it must have been a few years since I last met you. How are you holding up today?”
Trevor points to the syringe-driver, “Much better since you increased the pain relief, thank you. Managing okay now.”
We chat a while longer and he tells me how it won’t be long now, “I can feel it in my bones.”
Trevor’s wife, his two daughters and a son-in-law sit around his bed. Mary, his wife, wipes away the tears from her eyes and one of his daughters wraps an arm around her, “It will be okay mum,” while handing her a hanky.
Even with the pressure of needing to leave soon, I make sure to give the impression I have all the time in the world for Trevor. This may very well be the last time I will see him alive. I agree with the district nurse, I don’t expect him to last the weekend. At twenty-five past two, I get up and say goodbye to Trevor.
Mary and her daughters take me to the side when I leave, “How long do you think he has left? Should we ask Bill to come over from America?” Bill is their son and if he wishes to be here before his father dies, he should really be quick.
How can I word this? “I can’t really say how long it will be. Anything I say is only a guess and Trevor may surprise us. My gut tells me this is a matter of days, but as I said, he may surprise us.”
The eldest daughter meets my gaze, “Thank you, doctor, I will phone him as soon as you have left.”
There are a few more practicalities to be discussed. One is the fact that I’m not here until Tuesday and if he were to pass away before then, this would be the earliest I could sign the death certificate. Sometimes, the out-of-hours service will advise the family to collect the certificate at ten the next morning. This only adds to the distress for the family and I would like to avoid that. I wish them luck and strength in the days and weeks to follow and offer them support if they need it.
Now it is time for me to leave and make my way to school to pick Harry up. I hope I will make it in time.
Joni
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