There is change in the air...

in my last post I eluded to changes on the horizon...see in March, we were worn out...three months of constant doctor visits with no answers, just more appointments and constant pain and tons of pain pills...I now call the Rheumatologist the "Pill Pusher"...and I have an Oncologist that says my low White Blood Count might never come up....we needed a new focus...

So after two years of reading these "hippy" books, we finally put them into action...vegetarianism, juicing, herbal supplements, reducing carbonation, caffeine and sugar....and after a month, I feel better, I put the pain pills away, after four weeks of my White Blood Count dropping in February, it finally jumped up in March...I call this "hippy" because that's what my Oncologist called me when I told him I was making these changes.  He also told me these changes were not making any difference in my White Blood Count.  Many people ask me why I stay with him...I think its a challenge...I may never change his view point, but I think now I'm on a mission to make both he and my Rheumatologist both realize that they can't treat all patients the same.  

Unfortunately, his patients are getting younger.  As I would sit in the waiting room or the chemo room, I would hear the elderly patients talking to each other and they were so resigned saying, "Well, we'll give this a try..." and the unspoken sentence was, "if not, I've lived my life, and it's my time".  But with four of my high school classmates fighting cancer alongside me, we are saying, "We have soccer practice after chemo", or "I have to make it to Honor Roll tonight for my daughter".  We aren't resigned to anything except beating this, and the effects that chemo will have on our bodies.  We are fighters, and we will do what it takes to get back the lives that we had before.  We need doctors who will think outside the box - let's talk about nutrition, herbal supplements, physical therapy, mental health.  Once the prescription pad doesn't work, let's put it away...

I enjoy learning new things to help my accounting clients.  Many times, I hear about new strategies, and although I may not be an expert on the topic, I can refer my client to someone who is.  This does not threaten me, I want what is best for my client...I'm hoping that one day, my Oncologist can see that some "out of the box" techniques could really benefit his patients.  He doesn't have to embrace them, but he could recommend them...especially for his patients who are rushing from tumbling to school to soccer practice on the non-chemo days...