Anyway, cycle 2, day 1 has started and as you see from the pic above, we had a room (or chair) with a view. Here are some general observations.
- Dana-Farber is a world-class cancer center. Some of the best doctors, nurses, researchers all together in one place to focus on cancer. I love that. It's why I work here and why I chose Dana-Farber for my treatment. What I love more is how everyone makes you feel when you come here. It's not just that they smile and greet you by name, at every step of your journey. It's not just the warmth and compassion that you can hear in their voice and see in their eyes. It's the way they treat you. In a world where healthy is the normal and you are the odd-man out; they treat you like you're normal -- as a patient, sure, but as a normal human first.
- I just got a Get Out of Dentist free card. No dental work for the entire six months. Awww. Probably should still brush my teeth and floss though.
- Last month, infusion started at 10:30 and we left after 6 pm. Today, we should be done by 2. Woohoo!
- I have two Dana-Farber identities - patient and employee. Today they met. Barbara, my nurse practitioner who I saw this morning just came back from Rwanda where DFCI just opened a clinic with the Rwanda Health Ministry. We spent a good part of my visit with her this am to talk about her writing guest blogs for our Dana-Farber Insight blog.
- The infusion regimen begins with just plain old fluids and then we know we're onto the real stuff when Sara (my infusion nurse) comes in with the gloves and gown. That protects her from the chemicals that are going into my body. Ironic.
- Oncology is a tough career -- and when you ask doctors and nurses about why they pursue the career, they often talk about the close relationships they form with their patients. As I go through round 2, I get it, more than I ever could before. It's not just a closeness, but almost a possessiveness that I feel. Sara is my infusion nurse. Dr. LaCasce is my oncologist. I don't know the nurse who took my vitals, but it's the same woman all the time. Barbara is my nurse practitioner. The phlebotomist is mine too.
- So it's no surprise that I was very glad to see Dr. LaCasce when she stopped by a few minutes ago to check up on me. There was no clinical need to do that, but since I saw Barbara instead of her this morning, she just wanted to see how I was doing.
--Michael
Michael,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this post as someone who is training to work in the oncology field. For years I volunteered at Children's with oncology patients and referred to the patients in conversations with friends as, "my kids." Your comment about your care team being all yours really touched me. I was never in a place to hear this sentiment verbalized from the parents I met at Children's but always hoped the feeling of belonging I had with them and their children was mutual. I'm a friend of Randy & Jess' and you're in my thoughts.
All the best,
Jessica Leonard
Hi Jessica:
ReplyDeleteI really appreciate the comment. I know not from experience but from working at Dana-Farber which partners with Children's, that the ties between pediatric families and their clinicians is often even stronger than the adult side. Good luck in your training - hope you end up at Dana-Farber some day. :)
--michael