What's up Doc? - Jan. 4 2011

At 3:30PM on Jan. 4, 2011 we meet with Dr. Matthews in the hospital. He sits my fiance down in a chair and proceeds to examine him.

1. Ears checked
2. Hearing test with a tuning fork thingy
3. Eye test - is there double vision?
4. Skin sensitivity test - has he lost any feeling on the right side of his face?
5. Nose probe

The nose probe is the most disturbing exam. A long black tube is inserted up my fiance's nose so the doc can examine the tumor.

Oops, I think I forgot to mention that a CT scan was done on Dec. 27 and the report was in the hands of this Dr. Matthews. That is why he is probing around my fiance's nose. Probe probe. Because the CT scan showed a 2cm x 2.5cm tumor in my fiance's nasopharynx.

Who is Dr. Matthews? He's an ENT specialist. An Ear, Nose and Throat surgeon. If the cancer in the lymph nodes could have been removed by surgery, he would have done it. Dr. Matthews also has a highly incompetent admin assistant.

I know she's crazy busy. But to leave a message with the wrong appt date... Not cool. In the beginning there was a complete lack of urgency, perpetuated by Dr. Matthews and his admin assistant.

There was no - we need to get this guy to see oncologists ASA frickin P because he's been diagnosed with T4N2M0 nasopharyngeal cancer. Nope. It was all - "We can't tell you the stage yet because more tests need to be done and you'll get booked into the next available appointment."

Time is of the essence when you're diagnosed with Stage 4B nasopharyngeal cancer, but it wasn't till Jan. 19, 2011 that I felt this was taken seriously.