Category Archives: cancer

fed up

10 Friday Jan 2020

Posted by in cancer, health & happiness, hospitals, sevilla

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Let’s recap here, shall we? About a year ago my new oncologist told me I was cancer free and no longer required further tests. She said to me – and I quote – “If that pain comes back then go to emergency”. But I was no longer on the watch list for possible cancer recurrence. WTF? As most people know, by the time you are in any kind of serious pain because of cancer, you are pretty much already dead.

Meanwhile, to this date nobody can explain why I’m even fucking alive, and apparently my case flummoxed pretty much everyone who was involved with it. This is why I had regular PET scans, twice a year for five years after my last chemo in 2009, then once a year for the following five. And then in January 2018 suddenly there was some issue about an inflammatory area that had increased from one PET to the next, and suddenly I was seeing a new onc who gave me a whack of other tests: CTs, colonoscopy, endoscopy… and then pronounced me cancer-free. As in, you can go away now.
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my second endoscopy

19 Thursday Dec 2019

Posted by in cancer, hospitals, sevilla

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My first endoscopy was in March 2018 and this past Monday my oncologist decided to do another one to compare with the results from almost two years ago. I was shocked when I got a call yesterday saying that my endoscopy would be today! Was it so fast because someone had cancelled or because my situation was deemed so serious that a test was required ASAP? Anyhow, they’ve also taken samples for a biopsy, so now it’s wait and see again.

The last one seemed to go more smoothly than today’s. For some reason I was really gaggy and it was very unpleasant – I don’t remember this happening last time. The nurse said that next time I should ask for a stronger anaesthetic.

My friends Claudia and Paul met me at the hospital because it was recommended that I have someone with me in case I was groggy after the procedure. Mostly I was thirsty because I wasn’t allowed to have even a drop of water for six hours before the procedure. I also hadn’t eaten since about 8 pm yesterday, so after finishing up at the hospital at 5.00 pm, we ended up finding a tapas bar with an open-all-day kitchen. And now I am home again, planning on an early night.

Apparently nothing now will happen until mid-to-late January, which is when they expect the biopsy results back. So as long as nothing was perforated and I don’t die of sepsis in my sleep things should be fine… for now.

anatomy lesson

16 Monday Dec 2019

Posted by in cancer, hospitals, sevilla

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So there I was, at the hospital, armed with a copy of my CT scan report (in both English and Spanish) and my list of questions, which mostly pertained to everything mentioned in the “conclusions” part of the report. I felt nervous but prepared. Unfortunately, none of my (3) bilingual friends were able to come with me, so I was there on my own (not the best situation for me), nonetheless I was determined not to lose focus and forget to ask my questions.

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irony

02 Monday Dec 2019

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So you may recall that I had a CT scan on November 4th, after insisting on some follow up preventative testing when I was told “you’re fine now” last February and to just come back if I had any pain. Duh. In the end managed to get my oncologist to agree to an ultrasound, which happened in August. Well, the ultrasound results showed some dodgy stuff going on with my liver, and an MRI was recommended. THEN my mystery pain returned, so the oncologist set up another CT scan.

I got the test results three weeks ago, only because my GP prints them out for me once they are in the hospital database, otherwise I would still be totally in the dark. And since then I have been waiting for my next oncology appointment, because frankly the results are a bit worrying and I don’t know what they plan to do about what they found or suspect. There is a hospital number to call for setting up an appointment, which takes you directly to an answering machine where you leave your details. I did this twice and still haven’t heard back. Then it ocurred to me that maybe they didn’t understand my phone message because of my accent and so today I went to make an appointment in person with the Oncology secretary.

When I arrived there were about eight people already waiting in the hallway outside the secretary’s office, which seemed pretty normal, so I joined the queue. But the queue wasn’t moving at all. Then it transpired that the secretary wasn’t actually in the office. WTF? About half an hour later we were told that all the computers were down so they wouldn’t be able to make any appointments BUT they would take down our details and call us back. WTAF??

And so we waited until someone who wasn’t the oncology secretary (never did find out where she got to) wrote down our names and other details on a sheet of A4, saying someone would get in touch when appointments for our doctors opened up again. Say what? Well, apparently the doctors are all fully booked and so they aren’t making any new appointments until… oh, they didn’t actually know. Maybe end of December? Some time in January?

Meanwhile, ran into a friend of mine while I was in the hallway queue. He was on his way to an oncology appointment because DAMMIT he’s had a recurrence and now has a tumour in his lung. We hugged and kissed each other and I was left feeling so sad. Also frustrated because, even though I know Spain has a very good public health care system, it somehow feels like it’s less efficient than it was a few years ago. I mean, I am definitely a “squeaky wheel” kind of patient, but what about people who don’t push for extra testing or follow-up appointments in time to maybe save their lives?

And the irony? When I finally got into the Oncology secretary’s office I saw this photocopied message taped on the wall. Don’t worry bitches, I am ON it.  😉