Prince George Serial Killer part3

O.K. Bear with me, using a lap top, so my old eyes and fingers may screw up a wee bit. 

  I honestly don't know how I am going to put this all down, it is just a little too much for me to accept, and in truth, absolutely  frightening! Yes, we know our medical system is screwed, but I doubt anyone knows exactly how pathetically screwed it is!

  First lets put something positive down, before I head off into the dark side. We are staying at the Cancer Lodge in Prince George, Kordyban Lodge. When we got the call we were going to be staying here, I was mildly upset, mostly because we love our privacy, and also, who wants to be stuck 24/7 surrounded by a bunch of other folks fighting their own battles? Sure didn't take long to change my tune.What a wonderful place this is, filled with the most positive staff, welcoming, caring, and with the clear goal of making a person comfortable.  There is everything you could need within a beautiful building, laundry, library, games room, TV rooms, lounge, and a dining room that provides 3 meals a day, plus coffee, tea, snacks etc.There is a covered walkway connecting the building to the Cancer center, so we are able to get to appointments within minutes. No rushing about, meals can be set aside if appointments require missing them. Everything is done to try and make this experience calm and stress free. I cannot praise these folks enough, they are amazing!

  Now to enter the nightmare that is British Columbia's Cancer care!!!Folks , I am so shocked I am sick to my stomach. Like I said, the goal at the lodge is so folks talk to each other, and surprise, I will admit I smoke, so we bad people, must go off the property to do our dirty business, and this, well, this is where I heard some pretty nasty horror stories about some of the other folks here. Last night I met a couple that have been here since May, off and on.Guess when the person with cancer was diagnosed with prostate cancer? You will sh*t your pants when I tell you. October 2021!!! Go ahead do the math  October 2021 to May 2023, when he was able to see any treatment.  .Wow,good thing those nasty cancer cells simply hibernate for the waiting period. Thank goodness the prostrate cancer does not decide to run amuck hitting other body parts while a person sits by the phone waiting to hear that someone is finally going to address the problem. I am being totally sarcastic, in case you thought I was foolish. We all know, Cancer does not take holidays, and given the chance it likes to head off in all directions, so in 24 months one doesn't have to be a Dr. to realize things will be far worse than they were when cancer was diagnosed. Also, in case you don't know, stress can mess up one's life dealing with this disease hanging over you like a sword on a thread.  Oh, these folks have been through some massive hard times, I have to wonder, and they do as well, how much easier things would have been if they had started treatment back in 2021! Speaking with them, I mentioned I am trying to post our journey so others can learn from our experience, the husband said he wished he had kept a journal of his own nightmare, so others would know..you have to hear this crap! I have listened to many other stories just as disgusting, seen scars on folks who have been put through the wringer, because of misdiagnosis etc. So, back when I began this and asked the question "if this is how slow things move for someone with URGENT marked on their file, what happens to those who do not have the URGENT?" Guess I know now, they wait almost 2 frigging years!I am simply blown away! 

    So, lets get on with our own story. See, it's good I write this stuff down, I can go back to what we were told at anytime, and wonder at things we are told now. The rude confusing Radiology oncologist, informed us that Prince George had 6 oncologists, of which she was one.  Alrighty, so if you are like us, you assume they are all right down the hall at the Prince George Cancer center, because that was how it was put across.  Knowing that Chuck will end up with a medical onocologist, we figured the chances of us having to deal with the same impersonal depressing one  our sister-in-law had was not likely. Yesterday, after his third radiation treatment, we had an appointment with the dietician. Lots of talk on weight loss and tips on what to do to try and bulk him up, and a comment on how he needs this badly because he has a long rough road ahead after radiation. Huh? So , you know me, I hang on to every word. I blurted out"what do you know that we don't, all we know is that he has 10 radiation treatments, what do you know that is in the future?' Ooops, she claimed she is the only dietician doing the work of 3, and she got him mixed up with another patient. Then she clicks on her screen, and up pops the list of his radiation time scheduled, he gets a note on a card every day with the time of the next days treatment, however clearly there is a list of all the treatment times somewhere? Then, we get hit with the ultimate..she tells us that he has an appointment with Dr. Ho (my sister-in-law's dr.)on the 29th. Going to be honest here folks, although this is out of my comfort zone, I broke down in tears. It was like getting punched in the gut. Chuck explained our issues with Dr. Ho, and we were offered a social worker to come to this meeting with us to ensure we had our questions answered etc. O.K. I know some of you are thinking ask for a different one, well, I will explain how that really isn't an option in a minute. See, his treatments end on November 27th, last one in the morning of that day. So, realistically we could go home that day,but look Dr. Ho has booked us in November 29th..geez 2 days sitting here when we could be home. Are you getting any twinges? hey, we did. See, we are from out of town, that is 2 days sitting in PG , what are the chances we will decide to just go home and have a frigging Zoom meeting with this witch? pretty good, right? O.K. This is when things get really interesting....Message the social worker, asking if we can have a chat with her, because, as you can see, we have some questions.

  Up this morning, poor Chuckie, no food or water 4 hrs before appointment, since they have all been around 8'ish, this is day 4 without a coffee to begin his day, weight loss is proceeding very quickly, and Radiation over in a few minutes. Then we have a meeting with the nurse. His job is to ask how things are going, and if there are any issues, etc. In the midst of this meeting the social worker comes in. 

  She is very helpful, but..surprise, she is over worked, they are also in short supply. One would think in a Cancer center there would be a nice staff of these folks, because this is really a time people need someone in their corner getting answers to all types of questions, but guess what..she has a massive work load, and is stretched thin. However, we discussed the issue with Dr. Ho..now here comes the facts...See we could get another Dr. however, Dr. Ho is the one and only oncologist in Prince George, the rest of them are in Vancouver, and..just available by phone call or Zoom!! 

  So, in Northern B.C., all of Northern B.C., there is ONE medical oncologist for all those folks who have cancer, trust me there are an awful lot of folks in our position, and Northern Health offers a face to face with ONE !! The system is beyond broken folks, it is shattered! What kind of service do you think you could get from one solitary dr. who is dealing with a huge patient load? How easy would it be for that Dr.to make a mistake, maybe trying to get through a pile of files after dinner, and a wee bit tired? They are indeed human..so, I believe the chance of a mistake addressing something like Cancer, would be statistically high. I wonder if anyone above in administration(which seems to be staffed to the hilt), is keeping tabs of how many mistakes are being made, because there are no where near enough medical professionals.So, here is our choice, one meeting with the dreaded Dr. Ho face to face on the 29th, with our social worker sitting in, a Zoom meeting with said Dr. on the 29th..or requesting another Dr. with no idea of when they would be available for a Zoom meeting! Is this the description of Catch 22? 

   Next question I ask is "we have 10 radiation treatments, we have had a few tell us Chuck has a long road ahead. What is suppose to come after the 27th?"  Well, apparently Dr.Ho will likely tell us what her plans are, however, we will be sent home for 6 to 11 weeks ,before we begin the next stage, and will jus have to wait for a phone call.  Now, I have been doing a ton of research. Most folks who do radiation treatments, have an average of 30 treatments to attempt to kill off the big bad cancer cells. Chuck has 10!  That is NOT going to kill off the bad cells, clearly he is getting this to attempt to shrink the tumour so his esophagus does not close up. In 6 to 11 weeks, one has to wonder where else those cells will have travelled, this is totally UNACCEPTABLE!  We have no issue fighting this disease, but we can't do it without some frigging weapons, so from the looks of things, now we wait till next y.ear, and see what sh*t they throw at us...Short staffed everywhere, lovely Cancer Center, lots of excellent tools, but...NO People. Where is the medical health budget going? We are losing folks to the States because they pay so much better, and offer many benefits. There is an awful lot of tax dollars in the kitty, can we not use those to sweeten the pot to fill our health centers with staff?  No, we will spend money on questionnaires asking what pronouns one wants used in regards to them, and advertising up the ying yang on all the services offered to select diversities. Stop the useless crap,and hire enough people, no matter what dent it makes in the budget. Don't give management bonuses for jobs definitely NOT well done. Give that money to the ones who actually provide medical care, not the ones doling the money out to where it does not need to go.

   So now we are trying to figure out what option we go with, do we want to sit here in PG for 2 days waiting to have a face to face with someone we will not likely see again, as, we have also been informed Chuck will not be getting chemo here, his time at the center will end on the 27th, then he will have to deal with Smithers or Terrace..3rd party care..info passed back and forth between Smithers and Dr. Ho,nothing can go wrong, can it?

   My rant for today