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Showing posts with the label oncologist

Primary Care Visit This Morning

T his morning, Sheila and I headed into town for an appointment with my primary care doctor.  I was feeling pretty lousy but the drive is a short one so it didn't take too much out of me.  I definitely did not want to go though.  At this point, I'm pretty sick and tired of medical problems being front and center in my life so having another medical appointment did not thrill me in the least. When my doctor came into the examining room, Sheila and I were both surprised to learn that she had already discussed my case with my oncologist before we arrived this morning!  She knew things that I had discussed with my oncologist last night and it was obvious they talked about changing some of my medications.  This sort of effective communication is great but it is also a stark reminder that my health problems are serious.   The other sign of the seriousness of my health is that my oncologist worked on my case Monday afternoon and into Monday evening.  She was still contacting me and my

Some Decent Sleep

It is amazing what just a couple of nights of halfway decent sleep can do for one's emotional well-being! After our appointment with the Oncologist and putting that stressful waiting period behind us (awaiting test results which determine specific treatment)... and after arranging for counseling with an outstanding counselor specializing in cancer... and after arranging for insurance coverage for additional treatment to help with the side-effects of ten years of cancer treatment... Sheila managed to get a couple of nights of halfway decent sleep.   She still didn't sleep well and she is still understandably struggling with some anxiety but she managed to calm down enough to catch up on a little bit of sleep. This was enough to see a visible difference in Sheila's demeanor this morning.   That is great news! This evening we'll be making some Kansas City-style country ribs and homemade fries... That should help with both of our attitudes!

Does Anyone Really "Beat" Cancer? (or any other incurable illness)

I have so many health problems that I often forget about some of them until they are thrust back into the forefront of my mind and life. Some of these temporarily forgotten health problems are incurable things like cancer, tumors, and variations of Systemic Mastocytosis symptoms which make their appearances much less frequently. My primary illness, Systemic Mastocytosis, is in the forefront most days. My spinal injuries are in the forefront at all times because these injuries affect everything I want to do, everything I attempt to do and the pain never goes away. Sometimes, however, something happens or I see something to remind me of the things which I do purposefully push to the back of my mind and would prefer to forget.  I suppose this idea of pushing things to the back of one's mind is a way of coping. I purposely try to let go of all the things I cannot control. I don't want to needlessly worry about these things because, hey, I really can't do a damn thing about