GIG #2 - Meet the Staff

Since day 1 of this ordeal, every single person – every doctor, every nurse, every receptionist – has been pleasant to work with. There’s not been one person that I’ve had issues with. Now, there are some people that I enjoy more than others due to personality, similar interests, etc. But there’s not been anyone that I’ve thought to myself, “ooh, I don’t really like them,” Of all the things I am thankful for, this is at or near the top of the list. I’m not sure it would be for everyone else, but for a people person like me, this is extremely important.

There’s Dr. Thomas Reid, who shoots straight in his discussions and is accessible, confident, and honest. He makes me feel like we are on a team together, battling this cancer. He credentials are outstanding – like being the Chief of Oncology at Walter Reed Hospital before coming to Conway. And anybody who has both and MD and PhD has got to be pretty smart, right?

You can read an article about him here – http://www.thecabin.net/stories/062908/loc_0629080015.shtml
Or visit his hospital staff page here – http://www.conwayregional.org/body.cfm?xyzpdqabc=0&id=50&action=detail&ref=284

And there’s all the nursing staff at the clinic, too. It is hard to describe how good they are. They all have found the ability to show compassion without showing pity. They are empathetic without being sympathetic. They take cancer and treatment seriously, but don’t take the rest of life too seriously.

There’s Cathy, who was with us when we got the news of the kind of cancer and its staging and who has gone out of her way to educate us on all sorts of things related to cancer and quality of life. There’s Lesa, who says if she were in charge of all my neupogen shots in the belly, she would have done them in a pattern – the tiny bruises giving me a temporary tattoo. There’s Dena, who I know has struggled with cancer in her own immediate family. There’s Laura and Amanda, who usually do my labwork and tease me about passing out while keeping one eye on me just in case I do it again. There’s Sonja, who I found holding my feet up once I regained consciousness from passing out. Next time I’ll see if she’ll massage them while she’s at it. There’s Maria, who I’ve called Marilyn maybe more than once but she doesn’t hold it against me. There’s Darla, Tammy, Amy, and Diane, all who have made me feel welcome and cared for.

Any time you name names like this, you run the risk of leaving someone out. I don’t think any of the nurses know about this blog. But knowing Conway, somebody somewhere will point it out to one of them someday. So I should say, with all honesty and sincerity, that I appreciate every single one of the nurses there. And some day later, I’ll highlight the staff at the hospital, too.

If/when you think of it, remember Dr. Reid and all the nurses by name in your prayers. Thank God for such competent compassionate folks

Status update: My white blood cell counts and anc counts are up (this is a good sign that my immune system is rebounding from round 2). But my red blood cells were getting pretty low. So I am – as I blog right now – getting a transfusion. I haven’t had any trouble with it so far. I have a CT scan scheduled for tomorrow.