Friday April 20 has been an eventful day. One background detail I should add is that since I have had this condition I have been moving bloody mucus from my lungs. My oncologist Dr. Ho said that, "This goes with the disease however, if anything changes please let me know."
So, on Friday there were changes. Lets just call it an episode that left me with a bleeder in my lung. I called Dr. Ho at 8am. She doesn't begin her day at the cancer clinic until 9am. But, on Friday she had an early meeting. This caused her to be near her desk during the exact 2 minutes when I called. Our conversation was a good exchange of information then she sent us to Vanc. General after sending ahead our paper work. The emergency nurses expediently put us in a room then off for a chest xray within 20 minutes. Before another 30 minutes passed there was a team of respiroligists checking me up and down. The respiroligists told me they could do a bronchosopy to see what was bleeding inside the lung and if this was done by a surgeon, the bleeding could be controlled by a procedure. So, contact to a group of Surgeons who were in the hospital was made. While waiting to hear from a surgeon, I had a nap! Dr. Ho arrived and spent about 20 minutes sharing her take on the situation and answering our questions before going to see another patient in VGH. She returned with news that on her way to visit her patient she rode the elevator with one of the surgeons who was contacted, so they had a face to face meeting about my situation. The decision was made that the surgical route was too invasive and radiation treatment on the lung tumour would be the best option. So, now it is 2:30. Dr. Ho will contact the cancer clinic to see when we can start the radiation treatment possibly Saturday or Monday. No luck getting through. Jody and I are told that we'll get a call when something is set up. Dr. Ho leaves. Jody goes to make some calls to update friends but comes right back to say, she heard a nurse on the phone with the cancer clinic for Dr. Ho. We wait and try listen to the call. Dr. Ho returns to say," You have a radiation appointment at 3:00 down the street at the cancer clinic." Transport came for us. This is an orderly with a wheel chair. The route to the cancer clinic is a series of elevators and hallways 3.5 blocks long. One of the hallways was very long, narrow and low. I was sitting in the chair with Jody walking beside me. Looking up at her in the low narrow hallway she looked quite big!!
So, on Friday there were changes. Lets just call it an episode that left me with a bleeder in my lung. I called Dr. Ho at 8am. She doesn't begin her day at the cancer clinic until 9am. But, on Friday she had an early meeting. This caused her to be near her desk during the exact 2 minutes when I called. Our conversation was a good exchange of information then she sent us to Vanc. General after sending ahead our paper work. The emergency nurses expediently put us in a room then off for a chest xray within 20 minutes. Before another 30 minutes passed there was a team of respiroligists checking me up and down. The respiroligists told me they could do a bronchosopy to see what was bleeding inside the lung and if this was done by a surgeon, the bleeding could be controlled by a procedure. So, contact to a group of Surgeons who were in the hospital was made. While waiting to hear from a surgeon, I had a nap! Dr. Ho arrived and spent about 20 minutes sharing her take on the situation and answering our questions before going to see another patient in VGH. She returned with news that on her way to visit her patient she rode the elevator with one of the surgeons who was contacted, so they had a face to face meeting about my situation. The decision was made that the surgical route was too invasive and radiation treatment on the lung tumour would be the best option. So, now it is 2:30. Dr. Ho will contact the cancer clinic to see when we can start the radiation treatment possibly Saturday or Monday. No luck getting through. Jody and I are told that we'll get a call when something is set up. Dr. Ho leaves. Jody goes to make some calls to update friends but comes right back to say, she heard a nurse on the phone with the cancer clinic for Dr. Ho. We wait and try listen to the call. Dr. Ho returns to say," You have a radiation appointment at 3:00 down the street at the cancer clinic." Transport came for us. This is an orderly with a wheel chair. The route to the cancer clinic is a series of elevators and hallways 3.5 blocks long. One of the hallways was very long, narrow and low. I was sitting in the chair with Jody walking beside me. Looking up at her in the low narrow hallway she looked quite big!!
No comments:
Post a Comment