NO!!! I simply won't allow it!
Mum had an appointment with at the hospital Monday, this time to do with her osteoporosis. She had an MRI in October and this was the first opportunity to review the results. We already knew there were fractures, but this was to see if surgery could help.....
Well I'm GLAD that mum is hard of hearing and forgets to switch her hearing aid to a different setting indoors. I'm GLAD that we waited over an hour and she was really tired when we got in there. And I'm GLAD that we only got 8 minutes given to us once we were in ....
WHY? Because the dumbass doctor talked about cancer, that's why. And there's no point hedging it, saying things like, "Don't lose any sleep over it." and, "My gut feeling is that it isn't, but..." because just MENTIONING the Big C to mum right now would set her into a tail spin.
What if she had gone alone? She'd have been escorted out of the room afterwards -with no counselling, no niceties, not so much as a leaflet.
So. What do we do now?
She is having anther MRI tomorrow. This one is to compare with the one she had in October. Doc wants to see if the wedge fracture has healed or "done more".
In the 6 month old scan, one vertebrae has squashed down flat, and squished out whatever it is that is normally inside. This stuff has only narrowly missed the spinal cord. 1mm over and she'd have lost the use of her legs. O M G!!!!!!!
Then, the doctor told me to make an appointment with him on the way out of the hospital for 2 weeks' time, for a follow-up consultation. I went to book it and was told he was booked up till June. Shouldn't he know this???
Hey ho. We have a moving date. April 1st! I'm not sure of the auspices of that ;) Good news, huh?!!!
So I told them about the move and they got all huffy like we were being sooooo inconvenient. After there was no chance of a follow-up appointment, the receptionist said she may as well cancel the MRI, too. OH NO I DON'T THINK SO!!! You leave that delete button alone, missy. If mum has the scan, at least all she'll be waiting for at the new place is the follow-up! I'm not letting something like an MRI get lost in the transfer!
As for the Big C...... not saying ANYTHING to mum. No, no no. NO.
I've played my best smiley, positive, optimist all week.
No need to say the rest.
Specially as I'm not even sure this guy knows what he's talking about. -When we walked in his room together, he asked which of us the appointment was for. Hmm, so you're really familiar with the file, then, doc? -Nope, not even enough to know which of us was the 68 year old underweight, unwell woman...
Luvbug rang and I poured out all.
"How are coping with it?" he asked :)
(I love Luvbug.)
"I'm not letting it in." I said, "It's in the outer level. -There's my brain in my head, and there is a waiting area outside of it." [a lot of my school maths got stuck there, never made it in.] "I'm not letting it in. It's too full in here. "
Not just my head, either. I'm simply not allowing cancer. She can't take that one. She CANNOT have it. No. She isn't strong enough. Not for that. No cancer here, move along, move along. You're not coming in. I won't let you. Sod off.
I simply will not entertain the idea, let alone the worry.