"Doctoring"

After Dr. Sproat was gone, my father used to drive my mother to Dr. Sgambati in Mechanicville. I remember how pleased she was with her first cortisone shot when her knees were failing her. Unfortunately, her joy was short-lived as the remission  from pain was brief and the cortisone effectiveness was limited to only 3 injections. 

   She continued her relationship with Dr. S. probably for blood pressure control and such, nothing too serious. And as the years passed, I would drive her and Helen to the office, probably about every 6 or 8 weeks. They both liked Dr. S. and he would comment on their dresses, so it was kind of a contest to see who could wear the prettiest dress. The office was always full of patients waiting their turn, and I remember walking my young kids around the block during the wait if the weather allowed. Then to Golden's drugs to pick up their prescriptions. A routine and even pleasant pattern until one day everything changed.

On New Year's Day of 1978, my mother had a heart attack while mashing potatoes for that day's dinner, and she was hospitalized for about a week.A shocking turn of events for all of us but gradually things returned to routine visits again, and I would drive my mother and Helen who actually seemed to enjoy meeting with Dr. S. 

 On a cold Sunday morning, October 30, 1983, Marilyn had stopped by the house on her way home from church, where she had been dropped off earlier. She told my mother that she was going to run home, and her Nana said, "Marilyn, you'll freeze." Those might have been the last words she ever uttered because a short time after M. arrived home, Helen called in panic, that her sister was awful sick. We called 911 and rushed down, but it was too late. My mother was in final stages and was soon gone.She was 78 years old.  End of that story.

   Helen grieved with extreme loneliness. But she made a  decision on her own---no more medicines or doctor's visits. She was 82 years old and we honored her wishes. Her next, and final, medical visit was to the hospital in the summer of 1995, where she passed away at the age of 94, 11 years after she decided against medical assistance.