You Really Need and Advocate!

Happy Sunday before Thanksgiving to you all...

Over the last week it's become quite apparent to us that in order to successfully navigate the maze of modern medicine, especially when dealing with a devil of an issue like cancer, one needs a strategically placed medical ADVOCATE to help get the machine rolling in the right direction. I know some of you will say..."Boy! Is that an understatement!" 

Brenda tried to call Dr. Yousell's staff on Tuesday to see if the required paperwork from Houston had arrived so we could get this radiation show on the road. You can probably guess how the phone call went. How many of us have used the same strategy when you didn't have the answers that the caller wanted! Once they knew that it was Brenda that was calling and that she wanted to know if the paperwork had arrived as promised...the employee had suddenly stepped away from her desk! GROAN! We didn't fall off the turnip truck yesterday!! We gave up that day with a message to cal us.

Brenda had an appointment with Dr. Rehl, her ENT, the next day. Let me tell you...if you EVER need a fantastic ENT, this is definitely the doctor to go to. He is kind, gentle, considerate, humble, and a GREAT doctor. He has helped Brenda in so many ways. Well we told him how much trouble we were having getting ANYWHERE with Dr. Youseff and his staff and without a hiccup, he offered to personally call him and find out what was happening and to call us back. God love our advocate...Dr. Rehl. 

We weren't 15 minutes from the office and Brenda's phone rang. It was good ole Dr. Rehl who had already talked with Dr. Youseff and found out that the M D Anderson paperwork had arrive that very morning and they were just waiting for the insurance approval for the treatment and they would be able to schedule things. AMAZING! Everyone needs an advocate...I'm just sayin!

By the end of the day Brenda had an appointment to have her radiation mask made on Monday (tomorrow) and had the MRI simulation scheduled for Tuesday evening. Once that was completed the actual "Cyber Knife" treatments could begin. Yea! Lets kill this damn thing.

Dr. Rehl sensed the beginning of a sinus infection so he put Brenda on some antibiotics and after a couple days of needed sleep, Brenda is finally feeling better and has more energy. She's still anemic but her endocrinologist put her on a new iron pill with a vitamin C tablet. She feels much better today so hopefully she's on the upswing. Maybe she just wants me to do all the house reorganizing! LOL!

I've spent the last 2 days working on getting the house back in order...what a job! I'm changing out all the door hardware and cleaning, cleaning, cleaning. You get one layer of construction dust gone and another one follows it!. But we LOVE the renovation. If you need a great company to do yours, check out Premier Kitchen and Bath. They have been fantastic! 

Now we're getting ready for a wonderful and very thankful Thanksgiving celebration with friends and family. We send you all "thanks" for your friendship, your good thoughts, and your prayers for a successful treatment. 

God bless you all...
Nurse/Project Coordinator...Dee