Okay, so we have been doing this chemo thing with my mom for about six months now, and I have to say that yesterday, at her last session, something happened that irritated me more than any of the other stuff.

I know, I know. It must've been pretty bad because I never get annoyed.

Ha ha ha just kidding. At any rate...

We were there and finally got seated and started after the blood tests and a chat with the nurse/doctor and all of that, and we were seated next to an older lady who was the only person in the chemo center who didn't have a friend with her. The nurse came over and asked if she was waiting for someone, and she said, "My son dropped me off and he'll pick me up downstairs when I'm done. He can't deal with all this hospital stuff."

As the chemo went on, it became apparent that this woman was having some issues with memory loss and confusion, as she kept asking the nurse when her chemo would start (she had the IV going and had been there a couple of hours at that point), and she would get very distressed and forget where she was.

Finally, at the very end of her treatment, a nurse found her son in the lobby downstairs and dragged his butt up there to go sit with his mom.

I wanted to grab him by the collar and scream at him. If your mom needs someone to sit with her, SIT WITH HER. If she is scared and confused, GO WITH HER. You "can't deal with this hospital stuff"????? I'm pretty sure your mom is loving being poked and prodded in a strange place with no one she knows and not a familiar face in sight.

SHE'S YOUR MOM. She gave birth to you. She made you sandwiches and cleaned up your messes and wiped your butt. I'm sure all of that wasn't peachy for her. Maybe if you have a bigger family, there would be the option for you to have someone else go in with her, or maybe you could find a friend or church member to go sit in there with her, but holy crap, guy. Don't abandon your mom. Figure something out so she's not sitting in there alone and scared.

Argh. And he wasn't even kind to her when he went in, he just sat there being sullen because they made him come upstairs.

I wanted to punch him.

I also needed a snack pretty badly at that point, so I went with that, and I think we're all happy with that outcome. 

But still. Moms need a chemo buddy, too. Geez.