She had been told that she would die soon, twice before, but she continued to outlive her prognosis. Stress levels were high, as this time she felt more unwell. Pain was worse and even her lifesaver wasn’t covering her symptoms.

She had complete faith in it, and often credited it as having saved her life. Before she had discovered it she had tried many legal medications but none of them had worked, or had produced intolerable side effects. She had never liked going to the doctor and preferred to have plant-based treatments from her naturopath. The green stuff had calmed her down, with minimal side effects. It had allowed her to go back to work, and she was able to be a mother again.

Being diagnosed with metastatic cancer had really been challenging, but extra doses of the natural product had helped to keep things calm. In recent weeks she had been admitted to hospital twice and was told that she was about to die twice of something called DIC (Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation.) The doctors had explained this as her clotting system going crazy, causing blood clots in her blood vessels, which were painful as blood supply was cut off to affected areas. A dangerous situation as clotting factors ran out, it meant that she was at great risk of bleeding. Caused by her cancer, and with no cure, hence she had been written off by her doctors twice before, and now it was third time lucky.

They must have been more certain this time around, hence the transfer to hospice. She was already agitated because the hospital with all of its rules had prohibited her from using her favourite green stuff. She had managed to sneak some in anyway and she was hoping that the hospice would be more understanding. She was ready to fight for her rights to take what she wanted. She was ready to argue her case and was going to be upfront with the hospice team. She was not going to hold anything back. To make it obvious she chose to wear her favourite t-shirt – the one with the distinctive leaf pattern. Her Green Fairy friend had brought in a printed mug for her to use. Bring on the fight, she was ready to go.

They didn’t take the bait at all, and it wasn’t until her friend lit up and smoked a green roll your own cigarette that they intervened. “No smoking allowed.” Then they sent in the big guns to sort her out.

I’m angry and didn’t sleep much last night, I need to take this stuff, it saved my life. They wouldn’t let me take it in hospital and it made things worse. They told me again that I’m dying, are you going to stop a dying person from taking what they need to keep well? This is A-grade stuff, pure as you can get it, probably purer than some of the drugs that you prescribe. I can give you the proof of the chemical analysis so that you can read for yourself what it is.

That won’t be necessary. People are allowed to bring whatever food items they want. If you want to bring in chimichurri sauce or salsa verde I will not be checking them. Just make sure it is labeled so that it doesn’t get mixed up with anything else. People don’t always like the salad dressing that we provide, you are welcome to bring your own Green Goddess dressing. Some people don’t like butter and would prefer Olive Oil with their bread, that’s fine. I’m not going to check every biscuit or cookie that you bring in. Having food that you enjoy is important, if it makes you feel better go ahead eat that brownie. If you usually drink green smoothies with spirulina at home, you can bring in your supplements to add some extra nutrition. We will not be checking your food supplies, just make sure it is fresh and that food hygiene is maintained as we don’t want you to get sick from food poisoning.

We have to be clear on the rules in here though, no smoking or vaping of tobacco or other products. We have to be a smoke-free environment as per government decree. Otherwise they will shut us down. Anyone who breaks this rule will be politely asked to leave. This includes your friend. I’d question her motives, what was she really doing here? Was she here to help you, or to make a stand about something else? You’ve come to stay because you need our help. Despite taking all of your usual stuff you’ve still got bad pain, I think I can do something about it, if you let me.

We got off to a bad start. Can we start over? My name is James…