Two months ago, my sister, Marie, underwent emergency surgery. They discovered cancer throughout her abdomen, including a tumor on the outside of her colon that had blocked the colon and necessitated removal of much of her large intestine. Monday she began chemo treatments. Today, she is teaching. This speaks to both her strength and the strength of modern medicine.
Just a few decades ago, the type of massive emergency surgery she had and the targeted chemo treatments she is having to fight ovarian cancer might not have been possible. Even now, my sister might have died if she had listened to the emergency room doctor who wanted to send her home from the emergency room with a stool softener.
Instead, my marvelously stubborn sister listened to her body and refused to leave. The next day she underwent the emergency surgery that removed her colon and numerous tumors and saved her life. Marie has had many rough spots since that day, but she's continuing to fight the battle. Going back in the classroom to teach English and journalism to her high school students is testament to her big heart and strong will.
Here are a few of the practical lessons we've learned along the way:
Listen to your body.
In hindsight, Marie realizes she had some early symptoms of cancer at least a few months before her emergency incident. She was extremely tired, had persistent heartburn and indigestion and had one painful bout of abdominal distress that went away after a couple of days.
She talked to her personal physician about some of these symptoms, but they both failed to recognize them as anything other than normal aches and pains. I don't fault either of them, because she didn't have anything extremely out of the ordinary, but it is a reminder to pay attention to our bodies and not accept as normal things that seem abnormal to us.
Always have an advocate.
I've blogged about this before, but it bears repeating. You may be too sick or too distraught to totally be on top of everything your health care providers are telling you. If at all possible, ask a friend or family member to be with you in the hospital and at doctor appointments.
Take notes or record it.
My sister's 30-something daughter, who has been her primary caregiver throughout this ordeal, was smart enough to use her phone to record sessions with Marie's oncologists. Then she typed up notes and shared them with Marie, me and the other caregivers.
Turns out, that was important because when my sister went to get her first chemo treatment, they almost gave her the wrong drugs. She had read the notes and knew that there had been a change in the drugs the oncologist planned to use. So, she was smart enough to ask and to insist they go back and
check the most recent orders.
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