Getting the Results Back:
This is a day to prepare for carefully.
You will have probably two days after the biopsy before you get
the results. If the results come up cancer there are some things
that you will want to have ready, so I would prepare for it anyway.
Here is what I advise:
- Take someone with you to the appointment.
Don't feel that you have to be brave and go alone. There is no
need to have to do that. There are plenty of people who would
like to be there for support. Even if the news comes up that you're
in the clear, it will be an emotional experience. You can celebrate
with your friend if it is good news, and if it is cancer they
will be there to lean on. It would be advisable to have someone
to drive you home in either circumstance.
- Take a blank book or notebook with you
so that if it is cancer you can have any instructions written
down. As much as you are paying attention to the doctors, this
is a very intense moment in your life and I guarantee you will
not remember everything they tell you. Do not be embarrassed to
ask them to write down all of their instructions and information.
They want you to have the best information and will be happy to
do anything to make sure that happens. This notebook can also
be helpful to you throughout your treatment process. I write down
questions I have as I think of them; then when I go to my appointments
I have all my questions with me and do not need to fear forgetting
one. Plus, I can write the answers down in the same book.
- Arrange beforehand for people to help
call all your loved ones with the news. This is not something
you need to do yourself, but your friends and family will want
to know. I had a friend on each coast help with all my phone calls.
Something else is that when the calls are made be sure to tell
people not to call you for about 48 hours. Everyone will want
to call right away and it is just too draining to talk to all
those people at once. Ask them to spread it out. Maybe have them
sign up for days throughout the next week to call and talk to
you.
- You will probably be told to have a
CT Scan the next day. DOUBLE
CHECK on the instructions for this. There was a mix-up when I
went to mine and no one told me to go to the hospital the night
before for Barium. Thus adding to my stress the day of the test
when we had to rearrange things and put a different mixture into
my body, one that didn't sit as well as it might have.
- Remember to ask anything you want to
know. Anything. Why is this room blue? Ask it. No question is
unreasonable at a time like this.
- Purchase a good book on cancer. The
one I like is Everyone's Guide to Cancer Therapy: How Cancer is
Diagnosed, Treated, and Managed Day to Day. It answers all my
questions and has great tips on nutrition and other such things.
You should be able to find it at your local bookseller, and if
not go to Li's Bookstore,
in association with Amazon.Com, and order it online. Amazon has
reasonable prices (cheaper than your local bookstore, even after
shipping) and ship to your door.
- Buy a good engagement calendar. You're
going to start living your life around doctor's appointments and
blood tests. You want a good calendar that has pages where you
can see your treatment schedule at a glance as well as areas large
enough to write instructions about particular appointments.
- Buy a small photo album and have all
your friends and relatives send current pictures of themselves.
This way if you have to spend any time in the hospital you can
take it with you, and at any time in the process you are feeling
down or alone you can open up this book and see all the people
who care about and support you. I know that every time I look
at mine I feel stronger and feel happier.
© 1996, 1997. Last updated August 10,
1997
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