This week, I am at my daughter’s house on the West Coast. I love spending time with my family, as I am sure many of you do. Earlier, I took my 6-year-old grandson to the movies to see Dolphin Tale. He was enjoying the moving, but then he looked up at me and said, “I don’t feel good” and wanted to sit on my lap. He was burning up.
Fevers, temperatures, nausea, and fatigue—sound familiar? After making sure my grandson was taken care of and appropriately snuggled and tucked into bed, this thought moved into my brain. Our patients live with these symptoms. Unlike my grandson, they have these symptoms to look forward to day after day during their treatment. Patients go through treatments knowing how awful it is going to make them feel, and sometimes I have to ask myself why. Some do it for cure, some for remission, some for palliative care, and all do it for a little more time. Sometimes I wonder if I would go through it. Would you?
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Becky McClelland, BSN, RN, has been a nurse for 15 years, and almost 13 of those years have been in oncology. She loves every aspect of oncology nursing and has worked in inpatient and outpatient medical and surgical oncology, although surgical oncology is her niche. Her passion is teaching patients about the cancer process, from surgery to chemotherapy, radiation, and recovery. Becky and her husband of 25 years have twins who are married and have families of their own. Becky says that her grandchildren are the joy of her life, and most of her free time is spent traveling to see them.
Excellent post. I have gone through it: survival is worth it. That being said, there are more aggressive regimens than what I went through, and I often ask myself the same question from the bedside.
A nurse who took it upon herself to mentor me when I was shiny and new said, “If we each lay down our troubles on a table as if they were a hand of cards, we’d pick up our own hand instead of someone else’s.” I think of this during my shifts as an oncology infusion nurse.
I went through it, but I don’t think I’ll get treatment again if my cancer returns. It took a huge toll on me physically and emotionally. I lost my job, I lost my apartment. The side effects from the chemo have caused irreparable damage to me physically. My parents should be enjoying their retirement; instead, they’re taking care of me. My financial health took a big hit as well. No one cares about the type of cancer I have, so there were no nurse navigators or support groups for me to access.
It’s not living to spend your days running from one doctor to another. If my cancer comes back (and it probably will), keep me comfortable, but let me go.
Sue what kind of cancer do you have? As nurses we should be there. Maybe this is an area where we need to investigate the need for a navigator.