Telling the doctors the whole truth…

My son-in-law is a ex-footballer… having played Canadian-style football in one of those men’s house leagues for the guys who could never dedicate their lives to the game, but still had enough talent to make the provincial all-stars, or something similar. (Sidebar: the son-in-law used to play with one of the members of Kevin Martin’s gold medal winning curling squad, who was the backup quarterback on their team!) As such, he had his fair share of injuries. One of them, the ubiquitous knee injury, has come back to haunt him. He recently had a MRI to work out the final … Continue reading Telling the doctors the whole truth…

Medical Receptionists, please take note.

There’s a certain cruelty in finding a message on your telephone answering machine when you get home on a Friday evening after a particularly odd day’s business from the receptionist at your family doctor’s office, especially when she has stammered her way through the message that they’ve received some test results and, if there has been no follow up from your oncologist, the doctor would like to see you in his office. It’s a Friday. End of business. Not open again until Monday. No way to get in touch with her to ask for clarification, to ask which results from … Continue reading Medical Receptionists, please take note.

Avoid Dehydration — Drink!

I must admit that I am probably the last person who should be talking about dehydration… I do not keep my fluid levels topped up properly at the best of times. During my cancer treatments I was even worse at it. In fact, while I was doing the combined radiation and chemo therapies the lead of my oncology team, Dr. Jha, finally got so frustrated with my inadequate fluid intake that he made taking two x one litre bags of fluid intravenously daily a mandatory requirement for the last two weeks of my radiation treatments. Now that was a bit … Continue reading Avoid Dehydration — Drink!

Another CT Scan

We’re now twenty-seven months out from the original cancer surgery. We’ve quietly slipped by the 2nd anniversary for the start of the courses of radiation and chemotherapy.This morning I had a CT scan of my neck and chest, complete with the dye injection, and a standard chest x-ray. This really doesn’t have that much to do with my cancer history directly, but rather it is a reaction to an ongoing problem that I seem to have developed. I am suffering from a form of gastroesophageal reflux, which is when the contents of your stomach rise back up your esophagus at … Continue reading Another CT Scan

Hey, you! Get your H1N1 flu shot… stop being a dink about it!

At approximately 0800 on February 4, 2010 doctors will be taking a twenty-four year old woman of east Indian descent off life support. Her parents have arrived from Toronto, her brother from Calgary. This lovely young woman, one of our acquaintances, has no brain activity; her kidneys failed her, her lungs stopped functioning effectively, and then her heart stopped. At this time they haven’t told anyone what is responsible, but the chatter going around is that it started off with a bout of H1N1. There will likely be an autopsy… H1N1 kills.Get your damned shots. Continue reading Hey, you! Get your H1N1 flu shot… stop being a dink about it!

Americans kidnapping Haitian children?

In the aftermath of the Haitian earthquake a group of ten fundamentalist Baptist American do-gooders snuck across the border from the Dominican Republican, convinced temporary and permanent caregivers (including the parents!) of 33 Haitian children to allow the children to be loaded onto a bus and driven out of Haiti. The caregivers, and even the children believed that they were going off to ‘summer camp’ or to ‘boarding school’… based on flyers/leaflets that the team of ten were passing out. But also within their possession where other flyers that detailed their goal to remove 100 children from Haiti and take … Continue reading Americans kidnapping Haitian children?

Yesterday’s lab tests…

This is another one of those posts where all I’m really trying to say is that I am so lucky to be looked after by the Canadian health care system in Alberta.Yesterday at noon I managed to get out of the office, get to a local lab where I had made an appointment, had my blood taken, walked across the parking lot to the medical imaging clinic, and, without an appointment, had the x-rays of my right thigh done. I was back online, working, within one hour. And it cost me nothing more than my monthly healthcare premiums and time. … Continue reading Yesterday’s lab tests…