Marie quits smoking

The week Marie waited in the hospital for the equipment to come was a difficult one for her. She didn't understand what was happening, or why she was there. She believed she had cancer of the abdomen instead of a brain tumor. As confused as a tumor made her, it did not change the way that nicotine affected her body. Her first night in the hospital, she was alone in her room. I decided to spend that night at home. We just returned from Egypt. She seemed to be sleeping a lot and I wasn't sleeping at all. I thought, a good night sleep, would be just what the doctor ordered.

At 2:00am the phone rang. The caller id showed it was the hospital. I answered with apprehension. A woman's voice, on the other end identified herself as my wife's nurse. She went on to tell me. that Marie was being unruly. She was trying to open the 6th floor window so she could smoke a cigarette. Marie had smoked for at least 30 years. The tumor didn't suppress the nicotine addiction. The windows on the floor don't open, but Marie seemed to be unaware of that fact. The nurses kept telling her that smoking wasn't allowed. She yelled at the nurses, swearing at them and calling them names. The nurse that called, informed me, that they didn't have to take that abuse, and if it didn't stop they would not let her stay. I agreed to come right down to the hospital right away.

Thinking back on that event now, I should have told the nurse that she needed to deal with the situation herself. I believe that it was abusive of her to call me at home, in the middle of the night, to tell me my wife was being a naughty girl. As much as Marie wanted a cigarette, I know her well enough to know, that she wouldn't treat other people abusively. I believe it was the tumor affecting her personality. This was still new to me then. I didn't understand either. Hospital, and their staff, need to be familiar with brain tumors and how they affect someone's personality.

Even today, I witness medical staff, ask Marie questions, and write down her answers as if there true. Marie, in my opinion,  sometime lives in an alternate reality. Her answers are true to her, so they are accepted as true by the medical staff. They need some type of training, on verifying answers, so they can give the appropriate service. It takes quite a while before the medical staff comes to recognize that her answers, sometimes don't make sense in the current situation. Sometimes the staff members doesn't make the connection and I have to step in to explain the situation.

Anyway, after the surgery, Marie never had another cigarette. She never asked for one, and I don't bring it up. She quit by forgetting that she smoked.