“The photographer's palette [is] a thousand shades of gray.” ~H. E. Clark
Monday was my monthly infusion. Sitting in the waiting room, the window framed a panoramic view of the ocean. Monday was a cold and rainy day--gray. Looking out of the window, I experienced my first-time observation the entire seascape was gray--different shades of gray.
Previously unaware of the multiple shades of gray, the blending made the scene take on an artistic beauty instead of bleak and dreary for me. Mentally I tried to describe each grayish hue: slate, steel, pale, charcoal.
I looked around the waiting room, those who were there for chemo--ashen gray, sickly gray. My name was called to see the doctor. In a delicate dance of questioning, he wondered if I could extend the time between infusions. I told him my infusions were discontinued for a time in 1994 because I rebounded so well. I suffered a major crash.
As I took my seat, the infusion nurse informed me they did not have enough of the IVIG brand prescribed for me. Could I use the brand they had? The hospital was changing their supply brand to another in an administrative decision. It seems they are having difficulty getting my brand of IVIG and several chemos. She did not know why.
So is this the beginning of rationing? The casualties will be the elderly, the chronically ill, and the rare. The possible lack of supply will result in waiting--at the expense of other salvageable lives. It isn't as simple as administrative black or white, but a blending of shades of gray...people.
Copyright © 2011
