Nurse To Patient: Cancer Journey

My heart has been heavy lately thinking about all of the other people in my expanded circle of friends and acquaintances who are struggling with cancer or other lingering health problems.  Many of them are caregivers to the sick.  Spouses, siblings, grown children, all of them trying to be strong for the sick while working full time jobs, raising children, and dealing with their own life problems. There was a time in my life when I too was a caregiver.  It was at a time in my life when I was working on the weekends, home schooling preteens, all while juggling my concerns and often preoccupation with my husband's issues.  It was tough, trying to raise children and be compassionate to my husband's darkest days.  It wasn't until my care-giving ended that I realized how exhausted and depleted I felt.   Several years ago the script was flipped and I had a major injury to my leg.  I would have been up a creek without my husband and sister. ...

Have you every felt like a broken toy?  Today I felt  like baby doll with matted hair whose arm had been twisted off by some mean boy.   I was going again to find someone to fix me.   “Hello? I could use some help here?   Something isn’t quite right.” Yes, it’s been over three months since I had immunotherapy.   Miraculously though, my body hasn’t just snapped back.   I’m left with an adrenal insufficiency that no one has still fully explained.   Except to say, here is some hydrocortisone, take it like this twice daily.   My primary physician didn’t want to meddle where another physician was already in charge.   He agreed I should see an Endocrinologist, but there wasn’t much light he shed on the situation. I was appalled.   Never have I discharged a patient from the hospital and given them a blood glucose machine, a bottle of Metformin and said, “you have diabetes now, take this medicine, use this machine.”   Hopef...