D-day
D-day was brutally disturbed by a call from the oncologist on tuesday.
A diagnosis had not been made because nothing had been found in the tissue of the first biopsy. It is protocol to give the beast a name, only after getting a positive result from the biopsy. Before that, they are not allowed to call the tumor: "cancer", hence the second biopsy.
The doctor had already made it clear that I was dealing with a case of malignant cancer and that treatment was going to have to take place in the future. I weedled this information out of her, as this is not the normal procedure. When I heard the news I had told her I had expected to get the full blown treatment. She was relieved and told me that for most patients this was the time that they would feel the shock. In my case I had already been through the shock and was ready for the next step. The acceptation of the disease had now become a fact.
The biopsy took place on wednesday morning.
I have become a routined guest at the hospital now. The other cancer patients don't scare me anymore. As I walked into the department the nurse was standing in the hallway, with her typically healthy Dutch look about her. When she saw me she said, "Mrs. Hunkar, you are early today!". I was, and my mother and I decided to have our habitual glass of water out in the recreational area.
My mother came with me for my tests. First they took an X-ray of my pelvis, and later on they brought me to the area where the biopsy took place.
As I lay there waiting for the radiologist we both watched the door, hoping it would be another doctor than the first time. In walked doctor Van Keulen. A middle aged man with glasses so thick you couldn't even imagine he could see a thing. However, doctor Van Keulen has become my hero...he was certain he could do the biopsy without too much pain and he was also certain that he would get the right tissue this time. I relaxed! And he did precisely that which he had promised.
Hail doctor van Keulen!
A diagnosis had not been made because nothing had been found in the tissue of the first biopsy. It is protocol to give the beast a name, only after getting a positive result from the biopsy. Before that, they are not allowed to call the tumor: "cancer", hence the second biopsy.
The doctor had already made it clear that I was dealing with a case of malignant cancer and that treatment was going to have to take place in the future. I weedled this information out of her, as this is not the normal procedure. When I heard the news I had told her I had expected to get the full blown treatment. She was relieved and told me that for most patients this was the time that they would feel the shock. In my case I had already been through the shock and was ready for the next step. The acceptation of the disease had now become a fact.
The biopsy took place on wednesday morning.
I have become a routined guest at the hospital now. The other cancer patients don't scare me anymore. As I walked into the department the nurse was standing in the hallway, with her typically healthy Dutch look about her. When she saw me she said, "Mrs. Hunkar, you are early today!". I was, and my mother and I decided to have our habitual glass of water out in the recreational area.
My mother came with me for my tests. First they took an X-ray of my pelvis, and later on they brought me to the area where the biopsy took place.
As I lay there waiting for the radiologist we both watched the door, hoping it would be another doctor than the first time. In walked doctor Van Keulen. A middle aged man with glasses so thick you couldn't even imagine he could see a thing. However, doctor Van Keulen has become my hero...he was certain he could do the biopsy without too much pain and he was also certain that he would get the right tissue this time. I relaxed! And he did precisely that which he had promised.
Hail doctor van Keulen!
Frankly, the biopsy scares me more than the radio or chemo therapy. The first time was so extremely painful!
Whilst being rolled out to the recovery area, the nurse ran after us. The doctor wanted to make an extra sonogram of my liver.
He startled me. I could not have cancer of the liver! It turned out that my liver was not affected by malignant growths. What a relief. I immediately asked him if he knew if my womb was affected. He said that my womb was also clean. By this time I was happy it was almost time to go to the oncologist who had a meeting with me to explain what they had discovered so far.
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