Thursday 25 May 2006 – Doctor's note
Before leaving for my doctor’s appointment to discuss a further sick-note for a couple more weeks off work I received three letters in the post with appointments for scans from the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital. Two of them confirmed the scans I had discussed on the phone the other gave an actual date, 13 June, for my MRI scan and out-patients appointment.
Things are really moving on again.
It was quite funny seeing one of the many names attached to the header of the letters because it belongs to one of the original nurses who was on my ward when I was in hospital 14 years ago. She now has more letters after her name than I have had hot dinners in the intervening years. [Perhaps I should say daily portions of fruit and veg – remember to eat properly to stave off illnesses such as this – I have always been a relatively crap eater but have got better over recent years].
Anyway, back to the visit to my Doctor. He was talking to me about my situation as I walked into his surgery even before my bum hit the seat. Because the cancer I originally had was unusually placed and not much heard of, and because of its insistence to come back again, he, like others, have began to take more of an interest in my case. I apparently will be discussed at a national level, not me personally, but the cancer and its reoccurrence in order to assess and compare with other cancer centres and specialists.
In view of my situation and the fact that he believes this latest round of tests is to ‘stage’ the cancer he has given me another four weeks off work, and if I need it thereafter depending on treatment [i.e. chemotherapy] an open book for as many months as I require to recoup: all I need to do is phone the surgery and I can have it.
It looks serious all of a sudden again, but I will not worry about that until we get the definitive results in June.
Staging – I have read numerous internet sites and even spoken to nurses and doctors but I still do not fully understand where I currently stand: given that I had bone cancer that has now been evident in the lungs I should be at stage 3 [not the place one would want to be], but because it has been removed and no more traces as yet have been found I could be at stage1.
Things are really moving on again.
It was quite funny seeing one of the many names attached to the header of the letters because it belongs to one of the original nurses who was on my ward when I was in hospital 14 years ago. She now has more letters after her name than I have had hot dinners in the intervening years. [Perhaps I should say daily portions of fruit and veg – remember to eat properly to stave off illnesses such as this – I have always been a relatively crap eater but have got better over recent years].
Anyway, back to the visit to my Doctor. He was talking to me about my situation as I walked into his surgery even before my bum hit the seat. Because the cancer I originally had was unusually placed and not much heard of, and because of its insistence to come back again, he, like others, have began to take more of an interest in my case. I apparently will be discussed at a national level, not me personally, but the cancer and its reoccurrence in order to assess and compare with other cancer centres and specialists.
In view of my situation and the fact that he believes this latest round of tests is to ‘stage’ the cancer he has given me another four weeks off work, and if I need it thereafter depending on treatment [i.e. chemotherapy] an open book for as many months as I require to recoup: all I need to do is phone the surgery and I can have it.
It looks serious all of a sudden again, but I will not worry about that until we get the definitive results in June.
Staging – I have read numerous internet sites and even spoken to nurses and doctors but I still do not fully understand where I currently stand: given that I had bone cancer that has now been evident in the lungs I should be at stage 3 [not the place one would want to be], but because it has been removed and no more traces as yet have been found I could be at stage1.
posted by old enough to moan @ 2:27 pm
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