Home to Big Stone Gap by Adriana Trigiani

Author:Adriana Trigiani
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781588365637
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 2006-10-30T16:00:00+00:00

“Mr. MacChesney, please lift your hands over your head.” The nurse demonstrates, and Jack follows her lead. As he sits up straight on the examining table, his legs dangle over the side like those of a boy who’s gone fishing on the pier up at Big Cherry Lake. Whenever we come to the doctor, my husband looks so vulnerable, all I want to do is protect him.

“Good. Thank you. The doctor will be in shortly.” The nurse smiles and goes.

Jack sighs. “I hate these checkups.”

“Me too.” I take his hand. “But we have to stay on top of it.”

“I did fine on the stress test.”

“I know.”

“And I’m feeling good.”

“We want to keep you that way.”

Dr. Smiddy pushes the door open, still giving the nurse instructions about another patient.

Jack extends his hand. “Thanks for seeing us so close to Christmas.”

Dr. Smiddy smiles. “The holidays can be stressful.” He seems like a giant next to Jack. He checks Jack’s blood pressure, the usual stuff. Then he sits down on the stool with the wheels and looks up at us. “Your PET scan came back.”

“Anything of interest?” Jack tries not to sound nervous.

“Well, your heart looked good—we don’t see any further blockages.”

I clap my hands together. “Great.”

“But now we need to keep an eye on your right lung.”

“What’s the matter with it?”

“You’re a miner, you know.”

“Don’t tell me I have black lung.”

“You show some signs of it, though it is in no way advanced. But we’re thinking that maybe the shadow on your lung, along with the blockage in your neck, combined to cause your problem a couple of months back.”

“But black lung won’t kill him, will it?”

The way I ask the question makes Jack burst out laughing. “Easy, Ave.”

“I didn’t mean to cut to the chase, or maybe I did. I know that black lung is a chronic condition that can lead to other problems, and I just want to make sure that Jack doesn’t show signs of those other diseases,” I say.

Dr. Smiddy looks down at the chart. “Like emphysema.”

“Yes, like that,” I say.

“We don’t see a progression. Of course, it’s new. We’ll keep an eye on it.” He asks Jack, “Have you had any trouble breathing?”

“Nope.”

“Pain?”

“None.”

“You want to avoid any allergens. I would stop clearing asbestos pipes when you do construction, and you need to stay away from anything involving small particles.”

“My wood shop?”

“Wear a mask.”

“Okay, Doc.”

Dr. Smiddy wishes us a merry Christmas and then goes. Jack and I look at each other. We were not expecting to hear this news.

“I have to die of something someday, Ave.”

“Don’t talk like that.”

“My daddy lived with black lung for twenty years.”

“I know.”

“And in the end, he had a heart attack and died in his sleep. I’d take that.” Jack jumps off the table and goes behind the screen to dress.

“You’re going to be fine,” I tell him. I want to reassure my husband, but saying it aloud helps me believe it too.

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