In Sickness and in Death by Jaye P. Marshall Read Free Book Online Page A

examination room.”
    Brian was used to seeing such a large number of patients coming and going around any doctor’s office that it seemed strange to see the normally bustling setting so quiet. He was shown into a small examining room.
    “The doctor will be with you in a minute,” the nurse said as she closed the door. During the next hour and a half, Brian underwent an examination and a battery of tests. When they were finally finished, Doctor Harris shook his hand.
    “Well, Mr. Forrester, we’ll call you in a few days when we get the results.”
    Doctor Harris watched Brian leave the office. So, that is Adrienne’s guy , he thought. Seems like a nice enough fellow. I’ll see if I can get a push on those test results so Adrienne doesn’t have to worry any longer than necessary.

    A couple of days later, Brian was in his office in the mid-afternoon when his phone rang.
    “Mr. Forrester,” said the young woman’s voice on the other end of the line, “I’m calling for Dr. Harris. He would like to see you. Can you stop by the office this afternoon?”
    Brian looked at his watch. “I could probably be there about four-thirty, is that okay?”
    “That’ll be fine. We’ll be expecting you.”
    At four o’clock, Brian packed up his briefcase and left the office. “I’m leaving for the day,” he informed his secretary as he passed her desk. “I’ll pick up any messages when I get home.”
    At four twenty-five he entered Dr. Harris’ reception area. Within a few minutes, a nurse escorted him into the Doctor’s office.
    Brian waited nervously. If everything was fine, why had Doctor Harris wanted to see him? What could be such a problem that it required a personal conference? The minutes seemed like hours.
    Finally Dr. Harris came through the door, carrying a folder. He shook hands with Brian, took a seat behind the desk, opened the folder and perused its contents.
    “Mr. Forrester, it appears that you have some severe problems with your kidneys. That’s why you’ve been feeling so fatigued all the time and had the facial swelling. Your blood work shows some extremely high levels of toxins, which indicate that your kidneys aren’t functioning properly. Your blood urea, phosphate and creatinine levels are much too high.” He paused thoughtfully. “Your calcium level is also not where it should be.”
    Brian felt confused as he listened. What was the doctor telling him? “What are you saying? What do you want me to do?”
    “Our only recourse, at this time, with these levels, is to begin dialysis immediately. You’re familiar with the procedure?”
    “Sort of. I know that they have to hook you up to a machine that filters your blood.”
    The Doctor nodded. “That’s one method. What that requires is a rerouting of a vein and artery in your arm. Those procedures can take some weeks to heal enough to use them and I don’t think we can wait that long.”
    “What other choice do I have?”
    “Well, we can go ahead and create a fistula, the connection between the vein and the artery, and while it is healing we can go in through the subclavian.” He touched the side of his neck and smiled. “In layman’s terms, a catheter is fed through the jugular vein into the subclavian vein.”
    Brian felt his face blanch. “What caused all this, Doctor?”
    Dr. Harris shrugged. “It could be the result of many things – a forgotten injury to the kidneys, side effects or interaction of certain drugs.”
    “But, I don’t take any drugs. And I’ve never been injured.”
    Doctor Harris shook his head. “Some people are just born with a predisposition to this sort of thing. It may be nothing you’ve done.”
    “So, where do we go from here?”
    “I want you to check into Central Hospital this evening – as soon as you can get there. I’ll schedule you for the fistula and the subclavian first thing in the morning.”
    Brian slowly nodded his head. There didn’t seem to be any way to avoid it. “Okay, I’ll