Click here for Part 1.
Click here for Part 2.
Click here for Part 3.
The next day (Friday, May 7th), I got in trouble with my pulmonologist again. This time, I had taken my cell phone along to the park, but I didn't answer it, and I neglected to listen to the voice mail until we were leaving the park. There was another message from him telling me that the results from the needle biopsy were inconclusive, and they needed a larger sample. When I called him back, I got an earful about answering my phone and keeping it with me at all times. How did these doctors function before cell phones? Anyway, that night I went in to the hospital at 5pm for the biopsy. I hurried to work out childcare and be there in time only to have to wait two hours for my surgery.
My surgeon was great, another Christian man. I've never before had a doctor take my blood pressure, but since most of the staff had gone home for the night, he was the one who did the pre-op things and got me settled himself. He'd added me to his schedule as the last surgery of the day, and then had a very full day with complications that backed everything up. His wife called while he was operating on me, as he was supposed to be home already. I don't envy doctor's wives and families!!
I was awake during the procedure, and the only bad thing was when they used a tool to cauterize. The nurse said, "If it smells like a BBQ, you're the BBQ." Nice! It's a horrible smell. Despite the late hour, the pathologist was on hand to make sure the sample was adequate. He's a wonderful, compassionate man! He is so well respected, that the doctors and nurses are all in mourning over his upcoming retirement. They hate when he is out of the office and a substitute takes his place. Apparently, none of the other Pathologists will talk to patients about their initial findings or gut instincts as he had done with me the day before. I was so blessed by him. While the surgeon worked, he stood at the head of the bed and talked to me. Of course, his idea of small talk was telling me about the different types of cancers I might have and what they would be looking for. LOL These doctors have their own sense of reality! It was really like having a grandpa there with me, and I kept thanking him for staying late for me. He told me that long ago he had realized that he had to live with himself, and he couldn't sleep at night unless he knew that he had done everything he could for his patients. What an amazing example of service and sacrifice! I was truly blessed when I found out that he was leaving for a family trip to Puerto Rico as his father-in-law is in the final days of his own battle with cancer, and they wanted to enjoy this time as family before he passed. He stayed until he had a sample he was happy with, some time after 8pm, and then went home to prepare for his trip the next day. Then, while he was in Puerto Rico, he called back frequently over the course of the next 5 days to check in with the lab; he spurred the other Pathologists on until they reached a diagnosis.
The surgery was not as simple as the surgeon thought it would be. It ended up taking 1 1/2 hours, and they had to cut a major muscle to get an adequate sample. I left the hospital at 8:30pm, and by the time I neared my house, I was in excruciating pain. I got to CVS just before they closed to fill a prescription for pain meds, and by the time I arrived home at 9 pm, I was completely exhausted and in tears. I also hadn't had anything to eat or drink since breakfast! It had been a long week!
Grace and Peace,
Angel
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Friday, June 25, 2010
My Journey With Cancer: Part 3, Meeting the Oncologist
Click here for Part 1.
Click here for Part 2.
I'm horrible about keeping track of my cell phone and keeping it charged. I didn't have one for the longest time, and finally broke down and got one a year ago. People said that I would soon wonder how I'd lived without it, but that hasn't happened. I just don't like cell phones. Just as we were pulling out of the driveway to go to the hospital for biopsies, I realized I had forgotten it inside; but since we were running late, I decided to just leave without it.
After speaking with the radiologist and pathologist, we went to my mom's house to pick up the kids. We lingered there for a while, sharing the news we had received. By the time we finally got home, I had two messages on my home answering machine and one on my cell phone from the pulmonologist. Not wanting to waste any time, he wanted to get me in to see an oncologist immediately. His favorite oncologist would be in the office that afternoon, and had agreed to squeeze me in to the schedule. If I had to wait until the next day, I could see another oncologist which he said was okay, but he really wanted to get me in with the first oncologist. He had set up an appointment for 12:30pm, and he really needed me to call him! It was 12:10pm, and the hospital is 20-25 minutes away. After we picked up the kids, my mom had left her house for the afternoon to go to her old house in the city, 20 minutes the opposite direction, so I was going to have to find someone else to watch the 4 kids I'd just picked up from her house. If I'd had my cell phone on me, we wouldn't have had to drive home from her house (5 minutes from the hospital), and she could have just taken the kids with her to the old house. Sigh!
We managed to work everything out. The oncologist told us that we just needed to be there by 1pm. I felt horrible doing it at the last minute, but I called one of my best friends, whose house is on the way to the hospital and who had just had a baby a few weeks before. She agreed to watch my 4 kids (in addition to her 5). Don't you just love friends like that?!?
We got to the oncologist, and it turned out that we knew more than he did. He had seen the CT Scans, but he didn't even know about the biopsies. So we filled him in on everything that the radiologist and pathologist had said, and he told us some general things about Lymphoma and its treatment. The appointment was somewhat informative, but it was all very speculative. He was able to schedule a Bone Marrow Scan and Pet Scan, which were important, and it was good to get in to see him when we did so that we could get him as our doctor. He's a Christian and works part-time so that he can spend time with his kids. I've found out that quite a few people I know had him as their oncologist, or have family members who were treated by him. Everyone says he's excellent. And he is my pulmonologist and family doctor's favorite.
After the appointment, we went back to Rebekah's house to pick up the kids. Her mom was there. Apparently, she'd had some chest pain earlier in the day and had been to the doctor for tests. They wanted her to come back in 4 hours for more tests; so, she was hanging out at Rebekah's until then. As it turned out, she'd had a heart attack. While we were at the appointment, Rebekah had made us a lasagna dinner, in addition to having a houseful of 9 kids, including a newborn!! I was so blessed, and even more so when I found out a few weeks later, that it had been her birthday!! Some birthday, her best friend finds out she has cancer, and her mom has a heart attack ! But here she is, making me lasagna on her birthday! I didn't even know enough to say, "Happy Birthday!" let alone give her a card or a present. I still owe her a cake!
Grace and Peace,
Angel
Click here for Part 2.
I'm horrible about keeping track of my cell phone and keeping it charged. I didn't have one for the longest time, and finally broke down and got one a year ago. People said that I would soon wonder how I'd lived without it, but that hasn't happened. I just don't like cell phones. Just as we were pulling out of the driveway to go to the hospital for biopsies, I realized I had forgotten it inside; but since we were running late, I decided to just leave without it.
After speaking with the radiologist and pathologist, we went to my mom's house to pick up the kids. We lingered there for a while, sharing the news we had received. By the time we finally got home, I had two messages on my home answering machine and one on my cell phone from the pulmonologist. Not wanting to waste any time, he wanted to get me in to see an oncologist immediately. His favorite oncologist would be in the office that afternoon, and had agreed to squeeze me in to the schedule. If I had to wait until the next day, I could see another oncologist which he said was okay, but he really wanted to get me in with the first oncologist. He had set up an appointment for 12:30pm, and he really needed me to call him! It was 12:10pm, and the hospital is 20-25 minutes away. After we picked up the kids, my mom had left her house for the afternoon to go to her old house in the city, 20 minutes the opposite direction, so I was going to have to find someone else to watch the 4 kids I'd just picked up from her house. If I'd had my cell phone on me, we wouldn't have had to drive home from her house (5 minutes from the hospital), and she could have just taken the kids with her to the old house. Sigh!
We managed to work everything out. The oncologist told us that we just needed to be there by 1pm. I felt horrible doing it at the last minute, but I called one of my best friends, whose house is on the way to the hospital and who had just had a baby a few weeks before. She agreed to watch my 4 kids (in addition to her 5). Don't you just love friends like that?!?
We got to the oncologist, and it turned out that we knew more than he did. He had seen the CT Scans, but he didn't even know about the biopsies. So we filled him in on everything that the radiologist and pathologist had said, and he told us some general things about Lymphoma and its treatment. The appointment was somewhat informative, but it was all very speculative. He was able to schedule a Bone Marrow Scan and Pet Scan, which were important, and it was good to get in to see him when we did so that we could get him as our doctor. He's a Christian and works part-time so that he can spend time with his kids. I've found out that quite a few people I know had him as their oncologist, or have family members who were treated by him. Everyone says he's excellent. And he is my pulmonologist and family doctor's favorite.
After the appointment, we went back to Rebekah's house to pick up the kids. Her mom was there. Apparently, she'd had some chest pain earlier in the day and had been to the doctor for tests. They wanted her to come back in 4 hours for more tests; so, she was hanging out at Rebekah's until then. As it turned out, she'd had a heart attack. While we were at the appointment, Rebekah had made us a lasagna dinner, in addition to having a houseful of 9 kids, including a newborn!! I was so blessed, and even more so when I found out a few weeks later, that it had been her birthday!! Some birthday, her best friend finds out she has cancer, and her mom has a heart attack ! But here she is, making me lasagna on her birthday! I didn't even know enough to say, "Happy Birthday!" let alone give her a card or a present. I still owe her a cake!
Grace and Peace,
Angel
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