The Oncologist, the Surgeon and the move
I was able to get an appointment with a Haematologist and Oncologist very quickly. It was to be Friday the 16th of December.
It was a big week. We moved home on the 15th of December so we had been planning and executing the move, settling the kids into the new home and managing the impact of what was becoming not a great news story. We had not shared any of this with our family so understandably the demand of an extended family pre Christmas continued unabated.
The meeting with Dr G (will not share his details) was excellent. At last a quality professional. It was more a therapy session than one dealing with the medical condition. Clearly he was experienced in this area.
We needed to do a range of tests to confirm the preliminary diagnosis. This required a biopsy. Given that the tumour was deep in my chest the preferred option was a surgical biopsy. It was 11.00 am Friday the 16th, he suggested I see a surgeon that day, our girls were at school and had to be picked up at 3.00 pm. They were keen to get home to try their new pool!
Appointment made for 5.00 pm that night. Some fancy phone calls and the girls were looked after while went to meet the surgeon. Mr C.
Mr C was very good. Finally showed me the details of my CT scan where for the first time I saw the large tumour happily growing in my chest. It was near my heart, behind my stomach and lungs. Impressive I thought.
We agreed a surgical biopsy was the way to go and I was booked in for surgery the following Monday morning, the 19th of December.
My Unplanned Sabbatical 