“The Call”
Same day service is great when it comes to things like dry cleaning or shoe repair. It’s not so great when it comes to test results. I learned early on that no news is definitely good news. The more time that passes in between taking a test and receiving the results, the better. While being diagnosed, I would sometimes get “the call” within a matter of hours.
Of course, there are other aspects to my theory. In my experience, typically
• if a nurse calls on behalf of the doctor, then it’s good news.
• if the doctor makes the call in person, it’s bad news.
• if the doctor calls and won’t go into details over the phone, then it’s very bad news.
• if the doctor calls your emergency contact person before calling you, then it’s very, very bad news.
• and finally, if the doctor calls on Christmas Eve while at Dulles airport, waiting to board his flight to the Caribbean, then you know you’re in serious trouble.
I had another MRI this afternoon and I know that if my phone rings tomorrow morning or early afternoon, there’s a good chance that I have something very scary growing on my spine. According to my calculations, if my doctor doesn’t call by Wednesday afternoon, then I might be okay.
So I’m sitting here, staring at my phone, hoping it doesn’t ring. In fact, I hope it doesn’t ring until late Friday afternoon. When I answer it, I hope it’s the nurse calling and she’s at happy hour, drinking a margarita.
May 5th, 2008 saat: 4:47 pm
Prayers and good thoughts coming your way. I hope you don’t hear from the doctor for awhile!
May 5th, 2008 saat: 6:01 pm
Kate:
I am so very sorry about the circumstances surrounding your post, but you have hit the nail on the head as always. It’s uncanny.
My most memorable phone call: “Please come see me in my office to review your biopsy results.” You can guess how that went.
I have bone mets scattered up and down my spine, as well as throughout my skeleton. I’ve lived with them for quite a while (at least 2 years; probably much longer), and I’m always a little taken aback when people respond with horror to the news that they are there. I guess there is something about the spine — and about what widespread bone metastases must represent in terms of my prognosis — that scares people, which is understandable. But I try to think of the tumors as nothing more than barnacles.
I don’t mean to make light of the situation. I just wanted to let you know that while the last thing that any of us who visit this site want is to see you suffer, there is something about reading blogs like yours that brings comfort to other cancer patients. Thank you. As always, your words resonate like no others.
Kristy
May 5th, 2008 saat: 6:26 pm
I’ll be thinking about you, and hoping the call doesn’t come soon.
May 5th, 2008 saat: 6:54 pm
I will never forget the call that I received giving me bad news. My life changed at that moment. My prayers are with you, and everyone that’s in your life. Hope it helps to know that you have lots of people online caring about you and wishing you the best. Donna
May 5th, 2008 saat: 8:28 pm
Hi Kate:
You and your family are in my thoughts and prayers. I pray you get that Friday afternoon call with the sound of clinking glasses in the background.
I look forward to seeing you and the other members of “Kate’s Ugly Shoes” team in Bel Air, MD on October 12th.
Ken
May 6th, 2008 saat: 3:55 pm
Hi Kate – I like the new blog design! I am hoping that you will receive the classification of call that you are hoping for!
May 6th, 2008 saat: 4:45 pm
Kate, this is the third time I’ve read this posting. Of course you are in my prayers (always). And as always, I am humbled at the grace & strength with which you talk about your reality. You are such a beautiful presence.
May 8th, 2008 saat: 7:09 am
Kate, you rock. It’s Thursday morning and there’s no update on your Twitter site or post, so I’m hoping you haven’t heard anything. My late husband was a radiologist, and he did make calls immediately on the cases with bad news. But he usually read the stuff before the patient left the office, too. He felt he owed them at least that.
May 8th, 2008 saat: 7:08 pm
Yup, we do respond differently now. I remember, barely, when I would go for my annual check and get home and the answer machine would be blinking – I would hesitate for a bit then push the button to play back the messages of the day. Just a bit on edge waiting for the one message from my doctor’s office. Usually it was the nurse “your blood work was fine, cholesterol is a bit high so stay off the ice cream and we will see you next year”. Relief and back to all things normal. Not another thought about that call (later on watching the Tonight show and sucking down huge bowl of Cherry Garcia Ice cream).
I can hear it in his voice. If it’s good or not so so bad he will start out with “hi Kiki its doctor Smith”. But when it’s not such good news or bad news he must have to muster up the nerve to call me. He starts this conversation with a deeper voice “KIKI ITS DOCTOR SMITH” I can hear the crackle in his voice that he is so desperately trying to hide from me. I hate those kind of calls
It is different now though. I hear you Kate.
Love Kiki
kikiverobeach@gmail.com
May 11th, 2008 saat: 7:30 am
Hey, just stumbled across your blog/twitter account thanks to @pistachio. You go girl!! From one cancer survivor to another — keep kicking some ass!! @stales
May 13th, 2008 saat: 1:39 pm
A total blog makeover!! Great job, and thinking of you!
May 17th, 2008 saat: 10:35 am
We got the call. It came on our cell phone while we were driving home from Brian last scan. The PET picked up something in Brian’s brain that the radiologist was concerned about. His BRAIN! The next week and a half went quickly, MRI, appointment with a neurosurgeon, surgery. It was confirmed PC in the brain, ugggh. Surgery went well, the whole tumor was removed. Radiation starts Monday. More chemo after that to start kicking butt on the PC in the lymph nodes.
We all fight this differently, but fight we do.
Hope. Believe. Dream.
Sheryl
May 23rd, 2008 saat: 11:23 am
Kate:
I have been reading over your website and this is the first I have heard about your condition. It is hard to fathom how someone I knew being so active could have such a terrible condition at such a young age. My thoughts and prayers are with you as you battle this as the strong fighter I have read about and know you are.
If you get a chance, check in with Dr. John Powderly (GMU ’91) who is running his own bio-oncology company in Charlotte, NC. He is working on cancer trials and may be of some help to you. His website is http://www.carolinabiooncology.org/ and his number is (704) 947-6599.
I wish you the best and pray for a complete recovery.