Off to the desert

Dr. Hugh Tildesley

Status Update: Another round of poisons completed, relatively smooth, each round is different.

All blood work is back; the tumour marker is stable, thus no obvious clouds on the horizon.

The Arts Report:

Pride and Prejudice at the Stanley Theatre, Vancouver until February 28^th.

Beautifully acted with a stage that is simple and elegantly effective. Theatre as it should be, highly recommended.

Deborah and I try to see all the Oscar nominated films, a daunting task since they expanded the entries. We missed Bridge of Spies while in theatres and thus watched it on pay per view.

Bridge of Spies:

Very tight script, if you are a Hank’s fan he does not disappoint. A very strong candidate for best picture,but  I am still calling Revenent.Mark Rylance is a strong candidate for best supporting actor.

Furiously Happy:

A Funny Book about Horrible Things. Jenny Lawson

If you are a little bit crazy this book validates some of your inner thoughts although hers are in the extreme. She has a long history of mental health issues with numerous diagnoses. She tangentially shares her thoughts and dare I say fantasies. Once you just let yourself go, suspend belief and just laugh (at times inappropriately) you just escape.

Time for Rantage:

Cancer Agency Stuff: The lady calls me into the clinic can not for the life her pronounce my first name, I know for I have been following her for the last 32 weeks, she has been my point of contact for 12 of 16 visits. I now answer to huuuug,hhhag,hegow. This week was a pleasant surprise called out “ Tiildeesley”. I even answered. Who knows maybe she read about herself in the blog!

Every 2 weeks over the last 32 I have been on the 16^th floor for 4 hours. I have a series of poisons infused over 3 ½ hours followed by the attachment of the portable 5-fu pump. I use the time to read, answer emails and follow the news, yes it is boring and I will cat nap. So far the experience has been acceptable, the last was not.

There was a new patient just starting on therapy, she was asked all sorts of questions in a public setting, and frankly stuff I was really not interested in; but I could not help hear. More disturbingly the time course from her diagnosis (October), to her first course of chemo therapy (Feb1), is malpractice, in spite of her seemingly have MD’s in her immediate family!

The repeated explanations from a very caring but decibel-gifted nurse was endless, to be replaced by the visitation from a family friend who was an MD and took over as if this was scripted! Well into the 2 nd act of this play,with no intermission in site, Deborah and I made eye contact and without verbal communication, I unplugged my IV (don’t worry these things have a battery pack), and found an empty chemo room to regroup.

The point is that the poor lady and her family needed privacy and there was room for such however this priority was not respected.

The BC Cancer Agency is forgetting about patients: privacy in this case, timeliness in test reporting in mine, funding of expensive therapies which have promise.

I am off to Palm Springs tomorrow, heat , good company and some golf. No rain thankfully.

Until Next Time….