Chapter 2 #3
“Ready when you are,” Hope said.
“Hey, Mom,” Paul said. “We need to go see Doctor David this morning, okay?”
“Whatever for?”
“He wanted you to come in for your physical. I told him I’d drive you.”
“Why didn’t he call me? It’s none of your concern.”
“I know, but I promised him I’d bring you, so help me out, okay?”
Poor Paul had to repeat the entire conversation six times before he had Marion strapped into the front seat of his truck.
Hope climbed into the back, carrying the bag she brought with her everywhere she went with Marion. It contained a change of clothes, an adult diaper, wipes, snacks and a bottle of water. She tried to be ready for any possible catastrophe.
Since Paul was driving and the sun was shining, Hope took advantage of the rare opportunity to gaze out at the bright blue sky, to let the cool September air wash over her face.
The battle began anew when they reached the clinic where Paul had to bribe and cajole his mother inside against her will. By the time they were seated in one of the exam rooms, Paul looked as exhausted as he did after a hard day of work.
“Where am I?” Marion asked in a small voice. Her gaze skipped right over Hope to focus on Paul. “George? Why are we here?”
“Doctor David wanted you to come by, remember?”
“Why? Am I sick?”
“No, Mom, you’re fine. Just a checkup.”
The conversation continued in circles until David knocked and entered the room. “Good morning. Hi there, Marion.”
She shrank from a man she saw almost every day, except for the last week when he’d been off island on vacation.
David was wonderful with her, answering Marion’s indignant questions over and over while somehow managing to examine her. His brows knitted as he assessed her.
Hope wondered if he saw what she did—Marion was declining rapidly. Despite the years of experience she had with dementia patients, it was no less heartbreaking to witness the relentless march of the awful disease.
“Anything new or different since I last saw you all?” he asked, encompassing both Paul and Hope in his kind gaze.
“There’s more of a shuffle to her walk in the last week or two,” Paul said.
“What time is Daddy coming to get me?” Marion asked Paul.
“Not until he’s done working,” Paul replied.
David asked if he could speak to Paul and Hope in private. His colleague, Victoria Stevens, came into the exam room to stay with Marion. As Hope left the room, she heard Marion asking Victoria to call her husband to come pick her up.
They followed David into his office. David, who’d grown up with Paul and Alex, shut the door and went around to sit behind his desk.
He seemed to choose his words carefully.
“I thought about your mother a lot when I was on vacation,” he said to Paul.
“We’ve talked before about the seven stages of dementia.
I believe your mother is well into the sixth stage.
I’m actually surprised by the amount of decline in her physical condition since the last time I saw her. ”
“I’ve noticed the contractures in her wrists and fingers,” Hope said. “I was going to mention it to you today.”
“What does that mean?” Paul asked. “Contractures?”
“It’s when rigidity sets in and causes the hands to curl in on themselves.
” David demonstrated by bending his fingers.
“I fear that your mother’s condition has reached the point where I don’t feel comfortable being the only doctor involved.
I’d like to have her evaluated by someone who specializes in dementia and memory disorders, just to make sure we’re doing everything we can to keep her comfortable and safe. ”
Paul glanced at Hope. “What do you think?”
“I agree with David. It certainly won’t make anything worse.”
“It would take a lot out of her to travel,” Paul said.
“I’d be there to make sure she was comfortable,” Hope said. She could ask Jenny to keep Ethan for a couple of days while they were away. Ethan was familiar enough with her and Alex by now that he’d be okay staying with them.
“That’s a lot to ask. You have Ethan…”
Paul looked so sad that Hope’s heart went out to him. If she could somehow make this easier on him, she’d do it in a minute. “He’d be fine with Jenny and Alex for a couple of days, if they’d be willing.”
“They would,” Paul said.
She could almost see him trying to figure out how he could be off the island and away from the business for even a few days.
“How soon are we talking?”
“I think it should be done as soon as possible,” David said.
“Okay,” Paul said, resigned. “You can set it up?”
“I’ll take care of everything.”
“We would’ve been so lost without your help, David.”
“I only wish I could do more to slow the progression.”
“Nothing short of a miracle could do that,” Paul said.
“One thing I’m sure of,” David said, “is the care you and Alex have given her and keeping her at home all this time has given her a much better quality of life than she would’ve had otherwise. You should be very proud of yourselves.”
Paul nodded in acknowledgment of the compliment, but he didn’t look proud. He looked defeated.