This month, our roles reversed. Following a series of tests including a CT Scan, MRI, Ultra-Sound, chest x-rays, and a bunch of other stuff, the doctors found a large fibroid in Carol's abdomen, spots on her liver and other anomalies. Based on what we were told, we both expected the diagnosis to be active cancer in at least the fibroid and her liver. Truth be told, I felt more afraid at what Carol was facing than I was at any time during my diagnosis and treatment. On April 5, Carol underwent a gastroscopy that identified minor issues but no evidence of cancer in her esophagus, stomach and small intestine. I saw the pictures.
On April 7, the day my eldest son turned 38, Carol had her first visit to the Cross Cancer Institute where they drained over 2 litres of fluid from her abdomen. They will test it to see if there's any evidence of cancer. The Cross experts also informed us they would review the films taken during the CT scan a few weeks earlier. Best case scenario: no evidence of cancer followed by surgery to remove the fibroid and a hysterectomy. Worst case scenario: evidence of cancer would lead to three sessions of chemo-therapy, then the surgery, followed by another three sessions of chemo-therapy. All in all, it looked like the disease might be managed. Carol's attitude (and, admittedly, mine) moved to cautious optimism.
We had expected to hear from the oncologist by April 15th but as that date came and went, we became increasingly nervous. We had a long discussion at the dinner table that night. Her thoughts were headed in every direction possible. She continued to plan for vacations here, there and that other place as part her coping mechanism. I went into a form of denial as far as the worst case scenarios were concerned. So, we waited …
On April 20, good news in Carol’s own words: “This morning at approx. 10:00, my family doc called to give me the news I had been waiting for -- there is NO CANCER in the fluid they tested. I can't describe to you the feeling of finding out that you don't have a cancer that has a very poor survival rate beyond one year. According to the report, they are suggesting something very rare called Meigs Syndrome -- looks like cancer, acts like cancer, feels like cancer ... isn't cancer. Crazy. Then I had to wait for my gyny oncologist to call to talk about next steps. She was so happy. Told me that I apparently had a date for surgery on May 3. Wow! But then this afternoon she called to say that it is apparently now April 26 (yes, Tuesday) and that I had to be at the Cross Cancer Institute tomorrow morning to get the rest of the fluid drained off, and then I have to wait to see her, since I don't have an appointment, regarding surgery 5 days from tomorrow. It's been a crazy, crazy day. I'm still absorbing it all.”
On April 21, the staff at the Cross drained more fluid from her abdomen after which the Oncologist explained the surgery in precise detail: total abdominal hysterectomy, bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy, debulking the abdominal mass, omerectomy and staging. Some of the material to be removed would be tested for cancer. The hospital stay was to be three days or so; then home to convalesce.
4:30 came early on April 26, but Lauren, Carol's daughter and I got Carol to the hospital just before 6:am. We hung out with her until they took her to the OR around 7:30. Then played the waiting game. She arrived at her room around 11:30 hooked up to all sorts of hoses, tubes and wires, groggy but alert. At about 4: pm, the surgeon came in and advised that the initial path tests showed no cancer. The problem was indeed Meigs Syndrome. The relief on Carol’s face was tangible, almost palpable. There are yet more path tests on the tissues they removed from her abdomen and we’ll need to wait another 2 weeks for those results but it looks like Carol is in the clear.
They/we unhooked all the hoses, tubes and wires yesterday. Lauren, the RN, and I stayed with Carol most of the day, walked with her for a bit and, in general, helped provide the best care any hospital can provide. Understaffed as they are, the regular nursing staff was run off their feet dealing with the more critical patients. Shortly after Carol original roomie left yesterday morning, a new roomie arrived from the recovery room. Nursing staff spent a fair amount of time with the new lady setting her up and making her comfortable as they should. Meanwhile, Carol had been waiting for someone to come and remove her catheter so she could begin to walk and build up the strength needed to go home. So we waited while the nurses attended to other, more urgent issues. Carol couldn’t help but think of the commercial where the banker gives the new boy the ice cream while refusing ice cream to the boy who was there earlier because the new boy was “new……er!”
Carol, a self-described tough old woman, is recovering quickly. Today, April 28, she came home. Carol's other daugther Erin, LPN/prison guard, and her partner, Sarah, also a LPN, are on their way from BC to care for Carol during the next three weeks or so.
Throughout the past 4 weeks, we have seen a lot of the best and a bit of the worst that Alberta Health Services has to offer. When there is a serious issue, they do kick into high gear and provide medical services that are second to none. I experienced that level of service seven years ago and I was a witness to Carol's similar experience this month. The 8-hour wait at the Sturgeon Hospital Emergency department four weeks ago together with the difficulties the nursing staff had yesterday in finding the free time to help Carol with relatively minor tasks, attest to one thing: a serious shortage of qualified medical staff. I wonder, now that former Alberta Premier Ralph Klein (who was responsible for firing thousands of qualified medical staff in the interests of balancing the provincial budget) is slipping into the grips of dementia, how he would assess the ills of our medical system were he able to grasp the nature of the care he is going to receive now that he will be increasingly dependent on a system he didn't understand when he controlled it.
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