Elsie has breast cancer. There is no discussion of treatment. When asked, the caregivers simply say, "She will die." "What about her husband?" I asked. "She has a man, but I don't know where he is." "What will happen when she dies?" "There's a 'granny' who will care for her," Audrey said, "but that can't last for long."
While were there, Zelena and Audrey bathed the emerging sores on her right breast, and put some salve on it. That's all they can do.
I asked Elsie (through a translator) "How do you feel when your caregivers come?" "So happy!" she said. She laughed softly. "They come to see me, and I'm happy."
2 comments:
When I think of how many other Elsies & Thembas they represent I'm tempted to despair. I don't know how the workers aren't simply engulfed w/ helplessness. It's an incarnational miracle that they can persevere.
I agree. Even the poorest in our country have better access to health care than this. These stories break my heart but I am also filled with admiration for the workers who somehow manage to continue caregiving under such harsh and hopeless conditions.
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