It was almost two weeks ago my husband had to go to the hospital at the Bay. It was for a doctor's appointment that they asked him to attend through the mail.
At the moment my husband is, as I have told you last time, going through chemo withdrawal. My husband has another problem which cannot be taken care of until he is a lot better than he is now, so he can have surgery for his other problem I won't tell you what, it isn't important and not a matter of life and death like the cancer was.
Going back to almost two weeks ago hubby was all excited thinking he was going to see his surgeon about working out a date for his operation. We drove down for his 9:30am appointment, no problems; it was a good trip down, even with roadworks in four places. I dropped him off and went to get a coffee and have a walk in the park, and if time, a look in some shops. I was all set for a nice couple of hours, so I thought. A walk in the park first and then a coffee and cake was my plan.
I had driven down to the carpark to go for my walk but thought I would just rest for a few moments first no problem there, I set a timer for 15minutes, it goes off time for a walk then my coffee and cake. I was getting my water to take with me, when my phone rang. It was my hubby. "Come and get me I'm finished". Oh bugger! No walk, no coffee and noooo cake! Like a dutiful wife I started the car and went to get him from the hospital, he was waiting so I didn't have to find a park in a carpark that is usually full. My hubby gets in and tells me it was all a mistake they had made the appointment for the wrong doctor, this doctor was a surgeon but the one looking after his bowel cancer, and he did not want to see him, the other surgeon who is was to see hasn't got an appointment until the end of the month so we will have to come back then. Maybe when we go back for his appointment the day before my birthday (my 55th) I will get my walk in the park and my coffee and cake, well fingers crossed.
On the way home my hubby was very quiet. His joy had turned to sadness. Someone had made a mistake and as a result, had burst his bubble.
We are both hoping that he will get the news he is wanting to hear when he sees the right doctor next week. My hubby is not too well he still has a lot of the side effects from his chemo in fact his energy level is very low he gets puffed just walking up the stairs, he forgets so many things and I am getting tired of telling him the same thing over and over. They call it chemo brain. The doctors say it will get better but not for quite a while.
Centerlink say he is not ill enough for a pension but he can have a sickness allowance. They believe he can go back to work in a few months, his G P says no, not likely, not while his fingers and toes are numb and he gets puffed walking up the stairs, and then there is chemo brain to get over, I can't see any boss repeating instructions over and over several times a day.
I do not understand where they (centrelink) are coming from no way can he work but they are not with him every day seeing him struggle to get everyday things done without forgetting what it was he was doing in the first place, they just see words on pages of paper they do not care about the man and his problems. I just want to scream but instead how about I get swept away on a cloud into no problem land oh if only there were such a place, maybe I'll go there in my dreams.
Monday 28 May 2012
Friday 4 May 2012
All I wanted was a coffee and a piece of cake
Have you ever felt like going to bed curling up in a ball and sleeping for a week? Well that is how I feel at the moment. It is all getting too much.
Since my last post, my hubby has had two more lots of chemo; one was the Wednesday before Easter, and then two weeks later. On the Thursday after his chemo before Easter, we had to drive all the way to the hospital so my hubby could see the specialist I had to drive in all the holiday traffic to take him there, I dropped him off and as usual I went to have a coffee at McCafe.
I could not get into the car park. People were double parked, and passengers were running in and getting stuff, so I drove around looking for somewhere to have a coffee.
I needed to fill time in and this is a good way. Too many holiday makers the traffic was at a crawl.
I had my breakfast earlier, so I did not need coffee, I had one at home, but it helps pass the time.
My hubby's appointment was at 10:30am and not 7:30am which is his usual chemo time.
I found a place to get a coffee, but no parking close by, there was a park three blocks away but I believed I did not have time to walk there enjoy a coffee and walk back to the car, so I decided not to have a coffee and instead went back to the hospital.
I thought my hubby would only be an hour or so.
I got back to the hospital and drove around the entire car park. No place to park maybe outside the grounds, not close by anyhow, people were parked all over the place, even on the roundabout outside the hospital, and on every bit of the footpath on both sides of the street! I wound up parking in a side street a block away.
I thought my hubby would be ready and waiting by now it was almost noon. I got to the hospital, no he wasn't waiting. "Good," I thought, puzzle time and a cool drink of water and air-conditioning. There I was waiting and waiting over an hour, I started to get worried then my hubby came and sat beside me. He had just seen the doctor ten minutes ago. Ten minutes ago, for a 10:30 appointment. All that way for a ten min appointment to tell him next time will be his last chemo, they are not going to give him twelve but eight lots of chemo, because his blood tests show the cancer almost gone and the side effects are getting too bad and may not go away, so stopping early is the best thing for him.
He shares this with me and I think "why did we have to come all this way? Why didn't they just call?" We then walk back to the car a block away and come home.
Even though it was Good Friday my hubby still had to get his chemo bottle off on the Friday as usual. Thankfully it was at our local hospital. Because of side effects the worst being unable to eat drink or touch anything cold for up to seven days after chemo, we had a very simple Easter, but the Easter Bunny did come, yum (we all need a treat sometimes).
We are still battling Centerlink to get financial help. We have got our health care cards now and use them a lot. There was a mix up with my hubby's sick pay from his work and now we are in limbo we were told there were more days to go but they miscalculated and cut us off without notice. When you are expecting money and it doesn't come it is a bit of a shock. I don't mind telling you I cried a lot.
At the moment my hubby is trying to get money from the insurance side of his super. There is all sorts of paperwork and red tape he is working hard on this I wish him lots of luck. Money is tight and the bills do not stop coming.
My hubby had his last chemo treatment it was the usual routine 7:30 appointment so up at 5:30 am drive down to the Bay fill in five hours with no spending money so I filled in time walking around with my daughter and our cameras and then ate food in the park, and then had our usual nap in the car, then back to the hospital to pick up my hubby after his last chemo treatment, then the bottle off on Friday. For the last time on the Friday, I sit in the car and wait for him. I do my puzzles. He isn't long too long, less than an hour. The thing in his chest has to stay there there and get flushed out every six weeks or so. It won't be six weeks this time because that date is my 55th Birthday, so it will be seven weeks this time.
My hubby now has to go through withdrawal eight lots of chemo has to leave his body, he is not well, in fact he is worse. I just want to hide in my bed all curled up in a ball. I still have to wash his clothes twice until the chemo is out of his body.
The money problems are still with us centerlink won't pay us until we are completely broke, never mind that we have thousands of dollars of debt to pay off. A heap more paperwork came in today's mail, from centerlink. Most of the questions we have already answered there are a couple of new ones. Please can we just get money to pay our bills and put food on our table without jumping through hoops?
Since my last post, my hubby has had two more lots of chemo; one was the Wednesday before Easter, and then two weeks later. On the Thursday after his chemo before Easter, we had to drive all the way to the hospital so my hubby could see the specialist I had to drive in all the holiday traffic to take him there, I dropped him off and as usual I went to have a coffee at McCafe.
I could not get into the car park. People were double parked, and passengers were running in and getting stuff, so I drove around looking for somewhere to have a coffee.
I needed to fill time in and this is a good way. Too many holiday makers the traffic was at a crawl.
I had my breakfast earlier, so I did not need coffee, I had one at home, but it helps pass the time.
My hubby's appointment was at 10:30am and not 7:30am which is his usual chemo time.
I found a place to get a coffee, but no parking close by, there was a park three blocks away but I believed I did not have time to walk there enjoy a coffee and walk back to the car, so I decided not to have a coffee and instead went back to the hospital.
I thought my hubby would only be an hour or so.
I got back to the hospital and drove around the entire car park. No place to park maybe outside the grounds, not close by anyhow, people were parked all over the place, even on the roundabout outside the hospital, and on every bit of the footpath on both sides of the street! I wound up parking in a side street a block away.
I thought my hubby would be ready and waiting by now it was almost noon. I got to the hospital, no he wasn't waiting. "Good," I thought, puzzle time and a cool drink of water and air-conditioning. There I was waiting and waiting over an hour, I started to get worried then my hubby came and sat beside me. He had just seen the doctor ten minutes ago. Ten minutes ago, for a 10:30 appointment. All that way for a ten min appointment to tell him next time will be his last chemo, they are not going to give him twelve but eight lots of chemo, because his blood tests show the cancer almost gone and the side effects are getting too bad and may not go away, so stopping early is the best thing for him.
He shares this with me and I think "why did we have to come all this way? Why didn't they just call?" We then walk back to the car a block away and come home.
Even though it was Good Friday my hubby still had to get his chemo bottle off on the Friday as usual. Thankfully it was at our local hospital. Because of side effects the worst being unable to eat drink or touch anything cold for up to seven days after chemo, we had a very simple Easter, but the Easter Bunny did come, yum (we all need a treat sometimes).
We are still battling Centerlink to get financial help. We have got our health care cards now and use them a lot. There was a mix up with my hubby's sick pay from his work and now we are in limbo we were told there were more days to go but they miscalculated and cut us off without notice. When you are expecting money and it doesn't come it is a bit of a shock. I don't mind telling you I cried a lot.
At the moment my hubby is trying to get money from the insurance side of his super. There is all sorts of paperwork and red tape he is working hard on this I wish him lots of luck. Money is tight and the bills do not stop coming.
My hubby had his last chemo treatment it was the usual routine 7:30 appointment so up at 5:30 am drive down to the Bay fill in five hours with no spending money so I filled in time walking around with my daughter and our cameras and then ate food in the park, and then had our usual nap in the car, then back to the hospital to pick up my hubby after his last chemo treatment, then the bottle off on Friday. For the last time on the Friday, I sit in the car and wait for him. I do my puzzles. He isn't long too long, less than an hour. The thing in his chest has to stay there there and get flushed out every six weeks or so. It won't be six weeks this time because that date is my 55th Birthday, so it will be seven weeks this time.
My hubby now has to go through withdrawal eight lots of chemo has to leave his body, he is not well, in fact he is worse. I just want to hide in my bed all curled up in a ball. I still have to wash his clothes twice until the chemo is out of his body.
The money problems are still with us centerlink won't pay us until we are completely broke, never mind that we have thousands of dollars of debt to pay off. A heap more paperwork came in today's mail, from centerlink. Most of the questions we have already answered there are a couple of new ones. Please can we just get money to pay our bills and put food on our table without jumping through hoops?
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