Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Retrospect
I haven't kept up with the cancer diary daily. I've been too busy. But here are some observations from experiences over the past few months.
On a bank holiday T went for a blood test. The blood test department was closed.
So he went to A & E. He was told he would have to wait two hours.
In the blood test department he has priority. I don't know why cancer patients get priority. Either because getting the results is critical. And therefore they are rushed through to get the results. Or because otherwise they might get fed up and miss the essential appointment? Or because people needing a one-off appointment can wait once or twice, as the cancer patients do on their first couple of visits, but if you are have regular tests you can't wait that long each time, and they have all your records so it's easy to rush you through?
However, the nurse in A & E told him not to wait in A & E, because people in A & E have all sorts of infections he should not be exposed to. (Maybe that's why cancer patients are rushed through in the blood test department, so they don't sit for two hours in a confined area when because their immune system is down they must not be in crowded places.) So he went the next day to the blood clinic. 'Delivering blood,' he quipped.
Cervical Cancer
This year, 2009, we have all, in the UK anyway, heard about the death of celebrity Jade Goody. She had cervical cancer. The good news is that her death has increased awareness of the problem and in my local area, Bushey, a newspaper reported that there was an increase in the number of requests for cervical smears.
What are the ways of dealing with cervical cancer? Obviously, start with education. Then:
1 Be a nun. Nun's don't get it. Or it least not at the same rate as the rest of the female population. In the olden day's this would have been a good choice. The first choice. Abstinence from sex. Nowadays other options are available and preferred.
2 Vaccination. I spoke to a gynaecologist about this. The government (NHS) is planning to start vaccination on 14-year-olds. Girls before they reach the age of consent, and before they become sexually active. How long will the vaccination be effective? A year, five years, ten years, a lifetime? We don't yet know because we don't have a large population who have been vaccinated who have lived long enough after the vaccination for us to get the results.
3 Cervical smears. This is both before and after treatment, but mainly after. Before in the sense that you might spot something which would later develop into cancer. (And a few false positives or just the thought of having the test might scare people into seeing that they and their children get vaccinated.) Mostly after, by identifying cancer in the early stages you treat it before it spreads all over the body and is untreatable.
Restaurant Cleanliness
I love sugar lumps served with coffee in restaurants, but I notice that when I try to take one it's hard not to get your fingers on the adjoining lumps. Whatever happened to sugar tongs?
I'm sure in five-star hotels at tea-time they have elegant sugar tongs. But restaurants don't. They should put a spoon in the sugar bowl.
Why does it matter? With a member of the family having cancer treatment, and their immune system down, we are all washing our hands in gel when we are in our homes or out with the person having cancer treatment. And now even when I'm not with them, I'm thinking about the dangers.
It's a matter of life and death. Am I exaggerating? No.
This week, a member of my family logged on to Channel News Asia. If you want news from Singapore you could log onto Channel News Asia or The Straits Times. The big story was the death of a banker who had leukaemia. He was on cycle two of the six or eight cycles of treatment and got the dreaded high temperature. This signals that the body has an infection it can't fight. The immune system is down because of the treatment.
You are told to get to hospital within an hour. No messing about at A & E. The cancer ward admits you straight away. If you are living at home or away on business you must be within an hour of the nearest hospital with a cancer centre. (You carry your pills and medical your records with you.)
The man who died was only in his forties. He was a banker. All his money could not save him.
So I look very carefully at restaurant hygiene.
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