Today, I was still at the UNC Hematology and Oncology Clinic, which they nickname Rex Hemonc for short. Today was pretty normal, nothing out of the ordinary, but I did see a woman with blood clots in her calf. Most other patients were just new hematology patients, or just follow ups before they went for their treatment.
One case that stood out was this man with cancer who didn’t speak any English. We had to get a Chinese interpreter on the phone to translate for us. I speak a little mandarin, but definitely not enough to help translate! It was pretty cool to see how the doctors are so willing and ready to help all their patients, no matter their language or age. They also don’t discriminate based on the patient’s ability to pay, and they even have programs that help patients cover treatment costs.
Other than that, most patients were just referrals from their primary doctors who had an abnormal blood count, and the doctors just wanted to rule out cancer as a suspect. I’ve realized how scary the word “cancer” is in society, and I am guilty of this as well, but with modern medicine and technology, I’ve realized throughout this week that cancer is not always very severe. Many cancers have upwards of 90% cure rates, which is pretty amazing considering how complicated and different each cancer case is.
Fun Facts:
- Women who take estrogen-containing birth control are 4 times more likely to get blood clots
- Pet scans use radioactive liquid to show where tumors may lie in the body.
- The kidney, brain, and bladder all light up a lot on pet scans.
- Alex Trebek is in remission from Stage IV pancreatic cancer (yay!)