philosopher

My friend Claudio died of a brain tumor last Friday. From the diagnosis to his death just a month passed. He always had trobles with his sight, and last summer he told us that he probably needed surgery to correct the problem. We talked on the phone at Christmas and nothing had happened, then some months passed without news.   During Easter holidays a young friend of us casually mentioned the fact that he had passed on a temporay  job in my husband’s old school, where he and Claudio worked together, because he hadn’t the right qualification. He said the job was free because a teacher was becoming blind. My husband thought of Claudio, thinking that the news we heard were a mere exaggeration. They were not. Claudio had become blind all of a sudden, just after Christmas. He said that he had seen a number of doctors, that he was waiting for risults, but didn’t mentioned to my husband neither names nor places. My husband urged him to be proactive, and he answered he would.

After a week of  phone calls with no answers, his brother finally called us, saying that Claudio was in our town hospital, the second biggest hospital in Piedmont, with a diagnosis of  brain tumor, and a life expectation of a few years after surgery, if the tumor was benign and treated.

We rushed to the hospital. As his brother have told us, Claudio didn’t know his real situation. He begged my husband to come to visit him often, because, even if he was surrounded by family and relatives, Francesco, my husband, was able to cheer him up, even make him laugh . My husband and I spent ourf ree time in the hospital, goin every other day, or more often, if needed. In the meanwhile we learned a lot of half truths and white lies: his mother and brother went on saying that he was well, that he had no simptoms at all.

But the doctors of course didn’t agree. They suggested a biopsy, to inspect the tumor, and choose the right therapy. Unfortunately, they discovered a stage V malignant brain tumor.

Nothing remained to do. Claudio never woke up from the surgery

So what to say? I keep asking myself why Claudio, a good man, adored by his students, always keen to do voluntary work in his parish. I hope there is a reason.

For the rest, we need take our health in our own hands, and be careful.