Today I happen to be in a business meeting when my phone goes off. It is 2:16 pm CST. I know my father is at the medical oncologists office for his weekly appointment, labs, and preparation for his weekly infusion. It is my mother and her message reads: AT MEDICAL ONCOLOGISTS GIVING DAD AN IV TO HYDRATE, CALLING HOSPICE FOR BOWELS & ANXIETY. ALSO DOING URINE FOR INFECTION. My reply: SO HE DECIDED TO STOP TREATMENT? No response...
It's Saturday October 26th and today I went to purchase my father a birthday card. As I am in the store looking at the cards, I begin to pick them up to read. There are the small cheap funny version, the large ornate versions, and then there are others that play music or have some saying in them. As I begin to read a few of the cards, it begins to sink in, this may be...
"I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference." ~Robert Frost My father sits at the head of my parents round oak table. I sit to my fathers left, my mother sits to his right. My father begins by stating that he is not going to take the more aggressive chemotherapy, the 5FU. "I don't...
Tuesday October 15th my father was scheduled to meet the oncologist at 2:30pm. My fathers morning begun a bit earlier when he awoke at 1am with a bit of pain. He finally decided that he needed to take a pain pill and hopefully get some additional sleep. It was the first time he really took a pain pill in 10 days, since he worries of the "addiction" that could come with taking pain pills. My morning...
Saturday October 12th my father was finally scheduled for his long awaited PET scan. My parents and I arrived at the hospital at 7am. Within less than five minutes someone cam back to explain the scan to my father and escort him back to the scanner. As soon as my father was out of sight, I turned and asked my mother how she was doing. She just looked at my and begin to weep. I leaned...
Since the mid 1990’s, delays in patients beginning treatment for cancer care have been increasing. As the population of the U.S. continues, more people will continue to be diagnosed with cancer, and as new therapies continue to extend survival rates, the demand for health services focusing on cancer will continue to increase and stress the healthcare system. In the below chart you can see how the time it takes from a patient having a biopsy, being...
So the morning came and by about 10am I was done waiting to hear from my mother and I called her for an update. She had informed me that as of that moment, no one had called her or my father back. I encouraged her to call both the primary care physicians office as well as the GI surgeon. She had to leave messages. About an hour later, the nurse for the GI surgeon gave my...
When people are anticipating a possible diagnosis of cancer, or receive one, the internal clock begins to tick. This is a concept that can be difficult for physicians and other clinicians to grasp. This is one thing that I have been acutely aware of since my own clinical rotations. I saw time and time again people and families having to wait to find out news, sometimes it was good, other times it was bad, but...
In my previous post I discussed the fact that an ultrasound was being scheduled for my father. It took the hospital 5 business days to schedule my father for his appointment. Well, that happened last Friday. What was found on ultrasound was a mass just under the spleen. I spoke to his primary care physician. (after filling out the appropriate release forms) I also spoke to the physician and set my expectations. We are not going...
In the last few weeks I have been reading a lot of articles on technology, healthcare, business, marketing, and design. There has been the announcement of the new iPhone, the Xbox One & Kinect, a disruptive lab company offering precise testing to patients/providers for 50% of a typical blood lab draw, and the ongoing political babble of Obamacare, or as the more educated like to say, The Affordable Care Act. In all of the various media...