Lonesome Christmas - 1
Written for Steemit: ©Jeff Kubitz 2016 - All Rights Reserved.
Image Source - Dreamstime.com
Adored by the children in her hospital, or the hospital at which she worked, Doctor Penney was the General Surgeon. Her life was dedicated to helping people from illness that required surgery and she was relatively young, only 32 years old.
As much joy as her occupation as a medical doctor brought and the people she was able to help, it was the patients that did not make it that caused her heartache. Doctors are supposed to be able to look at people professionally, that is have no personal feelings toward a patient but sometimes it was very tough.
Renee was only four years old. She was so cute, so vibrant, when she first was examined by Doctor Penney. Referred by a pediatrician, Doctor Morris, Renee had a lump in her knee.
Not remembered by most adults, children often have benign tumors that need to be removed. Doctor Penney thought that was exactly what this was. It was something not to be concerned with and so surgery was scheduled. Renee was placed under anesthesia and the incisions were made. The tumor was easily removed by Doctor Penney's skilled hands, about as big as a golf ball. She placed the tumor in a sterile container for examination, merely routine. She closed the wound. Later examination proved the tumor was benign, just an abnormal growth.
That was in June. Now it was December 23rd, 11 pm, and she operated on Renee again. This one was again as big as a golf ball but was on Renee's left hip. Only, when she cut the child open, she could see there were ten other tumors on the pelvic or hip bone.
Doctor Penney removed all eleven and closed the wound but she knew something was radically wrong with the child, Renee. On Christmas Eve, she called for a consultation by an oncologist, or cancer doctor. She awaited his diagnosis and recommendation for treatment.
Single, she attended a Christmas Eve party with her mother, along with many family members and friends. To them, she wasn't Doctor Penney; she was Ellen or more often than not Ellie. It was a big gathering in her mother's house but no single men seemed interested in her and she really did not seem interested in any of them. Renee was on her mind. Inside, Ellie was saddened by little Renee's condition. It was hard to face what was most likely with a child, a nice little girl.
Around eleven p.m., tired, Ellie Penney went home to her house. It was warm and cozy and her pets Frisky, the cat, and Spot, the golden retriever, welcomed her home as always. The tree was lit and everyone sat on the couch together. Pets and parents. As much joy as they gave her, Ellie could not shake the reaction of Karla, Renee's mother upon being told that Ellie was referring Renee to an oncologist, a cancer specialist.
"She's my only baby." Karla began to cry.
No one could handle that well. Ellie was trained to be impersonal and professional but she was only human. She too began to cry with Karla.
Ellie wished she had a man, a husband to care for her. Someone she could share this wish. All the study, university, medical school, residency, and specializations her eyes began to leak water. She was not God. There was nothing she could do.
So, when patients like this came around she tried to think of all the other people, especially children she had helped with many conditions. There were broken bones and repaired birth defects. There were those who needed tonsils or appendixes removed.
In the end, she felt alone with her grief, turned to the tree and asked why?
Ellie Penney was a doctor, a chief surgeon, and she knew the answer to why better than most other people. It was because we were mortal. While she cried away Spot licked her face and Frisky rubbed Ellie and meowed.
Finally, her pets got her attention enough that they made her grief a little better and she hugged them both.
Soon, it was past time for bed. And everyone crawled into her big bed and all curled up to sleep until Christmas morning.
