Managing Your Care
This past week was spent at home with Reena, my brother, and my parents. Although I should have been in the hospital getting chemotherapy all week, I didn’t really mind the extra time at home! I spent time helping my brother, Prashant, move to downtown Seattle, enjoyed the fireworks for the 4th, played some Xbox, and even attended a close family friend’s wedding yesterday. Work-wise, I spent some time interviewing potential candidates to lead our operations in India.
So I ended up at home this week due to ongoing scheduling and coordination issues. I want to tell all of you out there that if you ever end up needing medical care, be aware that either you or your loved ones need to manage the details carefully. The doctors and nurses are managing you as one of many patients, so information and wisdom is often lost in translation. Sadly, that’s true even at the best medical institutions in the world.
My platelets (which are responsible for clotting blood) have been slow to recover so I’ve needed several platelet transfusions. There seem to have been a string of errors in managing this aspect of my care. The necessary transfusions weren’t scheduled for our trip to SF last weekend or for my admission to the hospital for chemotherapy last Monday. It seems like this has delayed my chemotherapy by a week or so…but I’m not 100% sure since we don’t get to see the doctor very frequently to ask questions.
Anyway, beware of your care. One needs to be a good manager to get good health care, not only in India, but also in the US at the best medical facilities.
I am now scheduled for a blood draw and a tentative platelet transfusion tomorrow morning at the Hutch. If that all actually happens, then I’ll be admitted to the UW Hospital, where they will put in my Hickman line and give me a round of consolidation chemotherapy. I will be receiving high-dose Cytarabine for 2 hours per dayon Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and then will be discharged at the end of the week. It will take 2-3 weeks for my counts to recover thereafter.
The good news is that they don’t have to shave the right half of my chest again tomorrow. They already did that this past Monday! : )
