Nature does require her time of preservation, which perforce I her frail son amongst my brethren mortal must give my attendance to. – William Shakespeare
THERE IS A TIME for sorrow as there is for happiness. Ecclesiastes tells us that much. Sometimes, however, sorrow and happiness may come at the same hour on the same day.
Such was the case yesterday as our ailing Prime Minister David Thompson’s personal physician Dr Richard Ishmael gave the promised medical condition and health update on the leader.
Sadly, confirmed was the gravity of Mr Thompson’s physical illness: “carcinoma of the pancreas manifesting in the form of a tumour of the pancreas”. As Dr Ishmael reported, part of the usual treatment is the surgical removal of the tumour and part of the pancreas.
As sad, there was a challenge in pursuing this procedure: the tumour was surrounded by “several important blood vessels” that would make removal “technically difficult”.
Rounds of chemotherapy would be the option of Mr Thompson’s medical team.
Happily, despite his resultant “considerable” weight loss and unusual bouts of tiredness, the Prime Minister’s “mind, brain and intellect are as sharp as ever”.
As comforting, on Dr Ishmael’s word, there is no reason why Mr Thompson cannot “continue to perform his duties as Prime Minister, albeit at a reduced pace”.
But it must be overly challenging for him, in spite of his mental sharpness and pointed acumen.
The question must arise from time to time: Why me?
Many in our nation must have asked: Why him?
Philosophically, before Nature we are all mortal sons and daughters, swayed by a time of which we must make the best.
As the Prime Minister himself acknowledged all the while, his improvement has been at the forefront for Barbadians generally, and, without a doubt, remains there.
We empathise with him and his family, and share in the country’s anxiety, which we are certain Mr Thompson will seek to ease when next he addresses us.
We must keep praying for a time of the Prime Minister’s full recovery: a time for laughing; a time for dancing – sooner than later.
