cancer center stories

February 12, 2013 · 2 comments

Being in the hospital lately allows lots of people watching and listening. I admit it. I’m nosy. But also, people tend to talk to me. So I’ll share some stories of people I’ve encountered now and then.

  • First, the Texas-haired girl in MRI that told me she really should stop tanning at the salon because she knows it’s bad for her after she found out I have melanoma. I just looked at her and then said. ‘Yeah. I’m starting chemo today. It’s like my 5th treatment.” She then asked if I ever tanned. I told her not only did I tan in tanning beds, but I tanned my whole life and that there will never be a day that I don’t miss the warmth of the sun (or fake sun) and the color it gave me. But, I added that knowing that tanning beds raise the risk of melanoma by 60-75%, I definitely thought she should consider a spray tan.  Then, she blew my mind further – not only is she familiar with chemo (her mom had breast cancer), she’s a NURSING STUDENT. SIGH.

 flowerswirl

  • The guy who complained about needles and being stuck who said “Oh, no, I could never get a port!” 
  • The same guy who was completely dehydrated and complained that he had been told that like “60 times today” but refused to do anything, even though he was told that it would help with the needle pokes and that he wouldn’t feel so light headed and low energy.
  • The very same guy who asked what he could do about his white blood cell count “Can I fix it by standing on my head or eating or drinking something?”  HUH?
  • OH! And the exact same guy who mentioned that he’d been tanning for 45 years outside and never had a problem, so he wasn’t scared of living in Arizona or other warm, sunny places. FACEPALM.

flowerswirl

  • The two girls that sat outside the ER smoking until security told them they needed to move across the street. Instead of putting out the cigarettes, they went, coatless, across the street. The security guard looked at Mike and said “They’ll be patients here one day”. hehe

flowerswirl

More to come!

{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }

Shine February 13, 2013 at 10:03 pm

It has to be so frustrating to be exposed to such ignorance especially as you go through all this crap. I think you deserve free pass to smack them upside the head for their idiocy!

Anyhoo, thanks for the updates friend. It means a lot to know you are doing okay despite your treatments. Keep your chin up kid, you’ll get through this. As always, I’m here for you.

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Nanette February 17, 2013 at 5:55 pm

Sigh….some people will never learn.

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