You Don’t Have to Become Your Own Doctor
There are a few pieces of advice that quietly change the course of your life. Sometimes you recognize them immediately. Sometimes it takes years. For us, one of those moments happened long before cancer entered our lives.
Our friend Cindy worked in healthcare. Over the years she encouraged us to become active participants in our own healthcare. She also said something that’s stayed with us ever since: “You’ll always be your own best advocates.” At the time, we appreciated the advice, but we didn’t fully understand it.
Then one morning, I woke up in severe pain. We couldn’t get in to see my doctor, so …
The Report That Changed Everything
When I was discharged from the emergency room, I thought I knew what had happened. The diagnosis was pneumonia.
A few days later, I logged into my patient portal and started reading the reports from that visit. Buried in the radiologist's report was a sentence that stopped me in my tracks. It referenced a “known transitional cell carcinoma.”
No one had mentioned cancer. No one had told me they suspected …