Still Waiting...

I was really hoping that by now I would be sharing a new treatment plan with you.  Instead, I am sharing just a little of my frustration.

As I reported in my last post, it appears that the previous chemo treatments were not effective in shrinking and killing the cancerous tumor in Tim's spine.  Therefore, on Monday, March 14, Tim's Oncologist cancelled the 3rd chemo treatment, scheduled on March 15, and proposed radiation instead.  He also requested a second Biopsy (3/23) and a PET scan (3/16).  Now...because I am not the patient type, I called the radiologist by Tuesday (instead of waiting for them to contact us as instructed).  Of course they told me that they were working on getting authorization for treatment from the insurance company and they would contact me as soon as that was done.  By Friday morning, I was on the phone calling everyone and finally obtained results before the end of the work day.  Unfortunately, the earliest appointment I was able to get at UCLA Radiology/Oncology was Wednesday, March 23 at 4:00 pm (same day as Biopsy). Tim's Oncologist and the Radiologist both said it should be ok.

Now let's move on to the more frustrating part.  On Tuesday evening (3/22), Tim received a phone call from UCLA asking that he arrive at 2:00 pm for labwork.  Tim told them we would do our best since we didn't know what to expect from the biopsy procedure.

On Wednesday, March 23, Tim was checked in to the hospital by 6:00 am and checked out by 12:00 pm.  We went home, got a quick bite, took a 15 mn breather and headed to UCLA by 12:45 pm.  We made great time and arrived at UCLA by 1:30 pm.  Wow!   Except, when we checked in they told us they had no record of labwork requests or any other procedure.  We told them to check again because we would not be there that early if we didn't have to.  Tim was in so much pain after the biopsy and should have been home resting and recovering.   It was no use. No one in the in that entire departmet admitted to making the call.  I tried to reason with them to see us sooner since their mistake forced us to be there 2 1/2 hours early but they didn't budge. Grrr!  We were finally seen at 4:00 pm.  After the scans were completed the technician came back and told us it would take about a week and a half to plan out the appropriate treatment.  Then a trial run would be scheduled to make sure the treatment was accurate.  And lastly, treatment would be scheduled.  A potential 3 weeks total of wasting crucial time for Tim's recovery.  I was furious!!  I asked if it was possible to get everything done any faster and we were told, No.  I asked if we were going to see the doctor to ask questions and he said it was not scheduled but we could wait for 30 minutes to see if he was able to see us.  Huh?  Unbelievable. We decided we had enough!

We got on the road by 5:00 pm.  It was pouring rain and it was at the midst of rush hour traffic.  By the time we got home we were exhausted and Tim was beyond excruciating pain.  About an hour later, Tim's face was red, he was shaking, he was short of breath, and he was crying from pain.  Little, Maegan, Katie, and I were standing in front of him, worried and trying to comfort him.  Katie immediately grabbed some warm socks to put on Tim, Maegan (on her own) pulled Tim's blanket off his feet so Katie could put on the socks, and I gave Tim some more pain meds.  Then we all hugged and comforted him.  It was rough!

We did a lot of praying that day! We pray that God continue to give us strength and faith to keep going forward despite the many frustrating circumstances we have encoutered along the way.  We also pray that treatment is prepared and started soon!

We want to take this opportunity to thank you for your prayers, your cards, your meals, your calls, your texts, and all the different things you all do to support and comfort us.  We do not have the words to describe how meaningful it all is to us and how much it really helps us!

I hope to be reporting a concrete treatment plan and schedule soon!

May God bless you!