Tales from the Lung Void

At St. Pauls Hospital, the windows don't open. If you want actual fresh air, staff will point you to the cafeteria patio on the 4th floor.  There is another option: a hidden balcony on the 10th floor, accessible only through the palliative care unit. You walk all the way to the end of the hall to the lounge.  You cross the lounge. On the other side sits the balcony, built as a smoking area for palliative patients. Plastic panels and mesh netting seal the open sides, serving as suicide barriers for humans and birds alike. Someone poked holes through the net for a clearer view of the street below. It occurs to me that if there is ever a right time and place to pick up smoking, it’s here, surrounded by a full staff of specialists just in case.

Back in December 2025, it was determined that my left lung was full of a nasty fluid, a malignant pleural effusion. I was blissfully unaware of this the entire time: "Malignant pleural effusion (MPE) is a common complication in the late stage of malignant tumors. The appearance of MPE indicates that the primary tumor has spread to the pleura or progressed to an advanced stage. The survival time of the patients will be significantly shortened, with a median survival of only a few months." Current status of and progress in the treatment of malignant pleural effusion of lung cancer Which raises the question: is it too late to move to a building that allows dogs and cats?