30.7.10

3/20/2010 If This Were TV

If this were TV I would enter the hospital for a scan to determine why I was having pain and symptoms. Upon completion of the scan I would return to my room, only to be visited that day by the Doctor, to advise me I had a tumor. A biopsy the next day would confirm and by the end of the week I would be starting chemo. The process on TV is always such an urgent and smooth transition from one step to the next. Now 3 months since the initial scan, with treatment still likely weeks away from beginning I still have a lot to look forward to. During the three months that have passed I have not slept through the night, endured fairly constant pain and peed every hour on the hour, 24/7. Certainly this is a long way from House or any of the TV doctors back to Ben Casey and James Kildare, the earliest I can remember.
The process must take its course, and the only thing for the patient to do is follow that course. If along the way caregivers can relieve the pain and suffering, then the patient is fortunate, but I doubt no amount of personal urgency or pain and suffering can alter the process unless one has boundless cash reserves. Even then the process might defeat the effort to move faster.

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