It's quite obvious that the first person you will meet throughout everything is your doctor. I am thankful to actually have a few doctors following my case, and all have helped in keeping me alive, and allowing me to become the person I am today.
Dr. Wik who works at the Cranbrook Regional Hospital was absolutely wonderful. She is the doctor to go to when you need things done. This woman has balls! When she knew I needed better care than she could give me, she did everything in her power to have me shipped off to Vancouver. She didn't hold anything back, she was upfront, and even pretty feisty, and we appreciate everything she did for us.
Dr. Yee, a thoracic surgeon at Vancouver General Hospital is probably going to be at my wedding one day. He and his top notch team of surgeons fit me into their holiday schedule, and saved my life. He was honest with us as well, and told my family and I that if we had waited, I wouldn't have made it to see next year. It was December 29th, talk about cutting it close. Not only that but he knew the surgery had to be performed through the front of my chest, and not from behind otherwise I may have bled out on the table. I definitely had someone looking out for me. He also personally talked to my parents about how my procedure went, and usually a nurse comes to get the family once the patient wakes up in recovery, but he went out and got my parents and brought them to me in recovery. We also saw him every day after my surgery, even though it was the middle of Christmas holidays.
Dr. Strahlendorf is my wonderful oncologist at BC Childrens Hospital. She oversees all of the treatments I receive, and even though we've had to change our treatment plan more than once she has never given up hope. Not only is she a doctor, but an amazing supporter of not only me, but all of the kids. My mom and I always say she's our angel, and she's always wearing long, flowing clothes, and she seems to float when she walks. If angels really do exist on earth, I'm pretty sure I've found one. My visits to see her don't feel like your stereotypical doctor visits that you normally dread. We actually just talk about life, like what I do with my life outside of the hospital visits and procedures. We talk about my life at home, and how I can live a normal (and I use normal loosely) life and do most of the things teenagers do. She also does everything in her power to make sure I am home as much as possible. Thanks to her I don't always need to be in Vancouver to receive treatment.
Suzanne is our nurse clinician, and an amazing side kick to my oncologist! She is on it 100% whenever we need messages relayed, prescriptions, questions answered, and appointments scheduled. She knows absolutely everything that's going on and is most likely the most frequently e-mailed person in my mothers contacts. No matter what she is always answering our calls and e-mails and answering any questions we have to the best of her ability. She is always so happy to see all the patients in the oncology clinic and does her best to make time to say hi to every family passing through the clinic each day. Thanks to her and Dr. Strahlendorf's close working relationship, it helps in allowing us to receive treatment at home because she's always got a close eye on us.
Dr. Heran (aka Dr. Good Looking according to all the nurses in clinic) is an interventional radiologist and has helped me make progress in my battle with cancer. He is directly injecting chemotherapy into my tumors, which has helped significantly due to the fact that there is limited blood flow to the tumors in my chest, which in turn makes systematic chemotherapy not as effective as we would like it to be. The needles are guided by a CT scanner and the chemotherapy is then injected right into the tumors. In other words it's kind of like extreme acupuncture. I've had this procedure done 3 times, and I'm coming up on number 4. It only needs to be done once every 3 months. Again, it helps to allow me to be at home and in the company of family and friends.
Dr. Gray is one of the most wonderful family doctors here in Fernie. He has kept up with most all of my progress and is doing his best to adapt to my special circumstances. It's every day he sees a cold, but it's not every day he sees a patient undergoing chemotherapy with a cold. He is very understanding, and very urgent with his care towards me. He cares not only about my physical health, but my mental health as well. Every visit to him starts with a "how are you doing" then proceeds with "how are you feeling". Yes, those have two very different meanings. I am incredibly grateful to have him looking out for me while I'm at home.
I am so thankful, and appreciate these people more than words can say. They're responsible for keeping me here today.
There are many more doctors, nurses, technicians, and radiologists that have helped me along the way, listed above are the main doctors that I've dealt with. Each and every person has played a part in my care, whether it be for radiation treatments, ct/pet scans, echo-cardiograms, ultrasounds, x-rays, blood tests, and everything else. Everyone has been so kind, patient, and offered lots of guidance and support. I can't say enough about the care I have received ever since the start.
These people aren't just helping me battle cancer, but they are helping me live my life as best as I possibly can right now.
To everyone I've met along the way, and will meet in the future, thank you.
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