Feb 11, 2008, FEBRUARY 11th 2008

Life in Lorna’s world has been “slightly” traumatic since her last update. I’ll begin by introducing myself. My name is Verity Worthington, I live in England, and Lorna and I met through the Missionaries of Charity. I was en-route back to Calcutta when I heard of her recent setbacks. I decided to come to New York to look after Lorna instead, and she has asked me to update her blog. Shortly after her last post, Lorna began suffering from a pain in her right side. This became so unbearable that eventually she went to the emergency room at NYU, and after several tests, it was discovered she had a fractured rib. It is not known how this fracture occurred – a suggestion of being over-zealously-bear-hugged was dismissed by Lorna as being very un-British! The doctors greeted the broken rib with delight, as they had feared the cancer may have metastasized. However, such jubilation was short-lived when the cardiologist announced that her heart was functioning at a mere 20% of its normal capacity. This meant it was necessary for Lorna (still in pain from the fractured rib) to remain in hospital and get a defibrillator implanted. A defibrillator is an electrical device implanted in the chest which constantly monitors the heart-beat and will administer an electric shock should the heart start to fail. The operation went well, although it has left Lorna in a lot of pain – even more painful, she says, than the mastectomy. From my point of view it was hard to see her in pain, being constantly jabbed for more blood, hooked up to IVs and finding it difficult to get comfortable. The cumulative trauma on her body over the past months, as well as the morphine and other medication, has meant her recovery has been hampered by exhaustion. However, as you can probably imagine, despite all this, Lorna has remained in good spirits and kept her sense of humor. This was her longest spell in hospital to date, and she was sad to have to cancel her trip to Florida where she had planned to convalesce in the sunshine and get out of cold New York. We returned home from hospital on Wednesday and since then Lorna has been recuperating. She is particularly pleased with her new mattress as the old one was filled with magnets – which she has to avoid with the defibrillator! It was providential that my schedule allowed me to be here at this point in our lives, as Lorna has really needed help since returning home. I am enjoying looking after her, making sure she takes her pills at the right time, and ensuring she gets rest and food. I know that Lorna is immensely grateful for all the calls and get-well messages. She isn’t able to contact everyone individually yet, but please know that your care does not go unappreciated; it makes a huge difference. Verity.