Patti and I intentionally stayed away until Friday night to allow him time to get used to the place, and then we went in for a visit. We had a good one. Lee was in fine spirits and for a change was aware and in a mood to talk. I told him all the bullshit that was going on at my employment and he appeared to understand what I was saying. His face is clearing up nicely and he had had a couple of baths since he got there. He was dressed in clean clothes and he just looked better. His voice was very raspy and his lips were all chapped and raw but he appeared to be indifferent to any discomfort. He chain smokes one cigarette after another and when I admonished him on this he simply told me that AIDS was going to kill him long before lung cancer, he liked to do it, so what was my problem? I mentioned cost but he said that he had enough money so why worry. End of that problem so far as he is concerned. We had a very good visit and Patti and he made plans for her to come down tomorrow and take him out to lunch in Gastown. Sleep well my boy, you’re in good hands.
Overnight we stepped back months in time. When Patti arrived on Saturday Lee was seated in a wheelchair, all slumped over to his left with his head drooping and turned to one side. His breathing was all screwed up and Patti could hear his chest bubbling when he tried to breathe. He didn't seem to have the lung capacity left to cough, and when he did get some of the crap up, he swallowed it instead of spitting it out. His coordination was shot all to hell and he cold hardly get a cigarette into his mouth. The smoking was totally mechanical and he just kept going through the motions. The occasional puff that he did manage to inhale made him cough but he just kept on smoking. At one point he tried to get out of the wheelchair and almost fell so they tried to get him to stay in his bed. No bloody way. He tried to climb over the bars on his bed to get back to the chair but fell. He tried to get up and fell again but Patti caught him and got all covered by snot and drool. He would not stay in bed so she got the staff to put on some restraints to his wheelchair and that was that. She was very upset when we got home over the sudden change in him and we both drank too much and sort of passed out for the night. We talked a lot and I tried to help her but she was really hurting and there really was nothing I could do.
On Sunday morning Patti went in with his friend Cory to see him and we didn’t know what she would find when she got there. She called about
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