Delays and Wait Times
One of the things that can be the hardest about dealing with a chronic illness can be the waiting. Cancer really hits hard on this front. I mean, you have to go 5 years before they'll even talk about you being "in remission" and 10 years before the word "cured" even comes up. And survivors know that they will spend the rest of their lives worrying about recurrence any and every time anything hurts or feels "off."
Recently, Olivia Newton John announced a recurrence of her breast cancer from 25 years ago! It has now gone into her bones. There are many cases of this type of thing happening. I wonder if cancer is kind of like shingles or herpes or other diseases that lay dormant for years just to strike again or if a cancer patient ever really is truly cured.
Furthermore, there are lots of tests. And then lots of waiting for those tests. And delays and postponements. So when my oncology department coordinator called and said the Radiology Oncologist Doc in charge of my treatments had to go to another hospital location the day of my CT scan and rescheduled it, I was not surprised. I was half relieved and half annoyed by this delay.
I took off on a business trip out-of-state yesterday and have a very full several days ahead of me. I was gonna ask that the doctor NOT tell me anything about the CT scan until I got back so it wouldn't affect my performance here. Now, that's moot. And that's okay. My son said maybe it's a good sign I got delayed again because maybe they're focusing on cases they feel are more critical so that means they are not as concerned about my condition. Well, I hope so.
So I have been rescheduled for Tuesday of next week (March 6) and will not have any news till after that. So we wait ...
Recently, Olivia Newton John announced a recurrence of her breast cancer from 25 years ago! It has now gone into her bones. There are many cases of this type of thing happening. I wonder if cancer is kind of like shingles or herpes or other diseases that lay dormant for years just to strike again or if a cancer patient ever really is truly cured.
Furthermore, there are lots of tests. And then lots of waiting for those tests. And delays and postponements. So when my oncology department coordinator called and said the Radiology Oncologist Doc in charge of my treatments had to go to another hospital location the day of my CT scan and rescheduled it, I was not surprised. I was half relieved and half annoyed by this delay.
I took off on a business trip out-of-state yesterday and have a very full several days ahead of me. I was gonna ask that the doctor NOT tell me anything about the CT scan until I got back so it wouldn't affect my performance here. Now, that's moot. And that's okay. My son said maybe it's a good sign I got delayed again because maybe they're focusing on cases they feel are more critical so that means they are not as concerned about my condition. Well, I hope so.
So I have been rescheduled for Tuesday of next week (March 6) and will not have any news till after that. So we wait ...
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