Bulldogs World

but I have been lurking on and off these last few months. It was just too hard to write about anything after my Momma died and then 2 weeks later my dear Slugger passed away in his sleep.

Amy, I want to thank you for your constant prayers and friendship. I know there are others too.. We sure need as many as we can get right now.

We received very devastating news yesterday. It’s been the news we have been dreading for the last 42 months. There is nothing else that they can do for my husband and offered to write a referral for Hospice. The new chemo (FOLFIRI) isn’t working and his CA-19-9 marker jumped from 854 to 3000 in two weeks while receiving treatment. MY husband was so sick and weak yesterday from the previous chemo treatment he had already decided that he was not taking chemo yesterday. Of course we are both sick over this news. I know that we have been more fortunate than others in that my husband has survived 42 months with stage IV pancreatic cancer but I was hoping that he could just keep being treated to keep this monster at bay.

But let me tell you how upset I am at the oncologist at Moffitt Cancer Center. My husband has been going there approx. 2½ years. We had an appointment for labs at 8:45 we arrived at 7:20, everything went fine and dandy and taken on time which is pretty much the usual in the downstairs blood draw area. Our next appt. down the hall at the GI Clinic was at 10:00 to see his Dr. they put us in the room at 9:32, which was great I thought we might be seen a little bit early. Silly me. I wish I would have known and just got up and left at that point. We had 2 dieticians come in and talk to my husband and advise him, but still no Dr. After waiting about 45 minutes a nurse came in and said the Dr. is running late making hospital rounds but should be in shortly. Well after waiting 1 hour and 38 minutes I got up and wheeled my husband out of the office. I stopped at checkout and said I don’t have the checkout papers because we never saw the Dr. and we cannot wait any longer as my husband is a very sick man and it’s uncomfortable for him to sit in this wheelchair any longer. The checkout person was getting out of his chair to go and get a nurse and I said forget it. We are not waiting one more minute. I feel the Dr. was rude, inconsiderate and showed a total lack of concern towards my husband.

Well, lo and behold a couple of hours after we arrived home a nurse named Connie called and apologized for Dr. Springett. She also said that Dr. Springett told her to tell us all of the above info about his markers and the disease progression. He told her to tell us that he is willing to write a referral to HOSPICE for my husband but he would support whatever my husband wanted to do. I told the nurse that I thought the Dr. should have at least rescheduled an appointment and told this info. to my husband face to face not in a relay message.. Dr. to nurse, nurse to me, me to my husband. I just didn’t like it. He deserves more than just a telephone blow off. So the nurse called me back and said he would see us at 8:30 next Friday. I am so mad right now. Of course my husband took the news extremely well when I told him and said that he new he would hear it eventually but I think he is just being strong so he doesn’t upset me. I just want to rip somebody’s head off. OH, btw, neither one of us think he is ready for HOSPICE just yet.