Today, the patients and cases we saw were quite normal, but it was the conversations out of the exam rooms that made the day memorable. The nurses and doctors are all pretty close, and act very much like a family: bickering and teasing each other incessantly. There was often lots of free times between patients, but the nurses kept it very fun! They like to call their clinic “the fun one”. We discussed where we would move in the future, many arguing for Arizona or Florida, and we discussed Minnesota accents, which they claim that Dr. Eisenbeis has.
One patient that stood out was this woman with smoldering myeloma that is not treated because it is not malignant, but it is like a ticking time bomb and could go off at any time, with no trigger. She was very on edge and nervous at first, but once the doctor said she was still fine, she calmed down. She stated that it is quite difficult to forget about her disease, even though she’s had it for almost 10 years, because there’s always a cancer commercial or ad. She even said that only her immediate family knows, because she doesn’t ever want to talk to relatives or people about it at family gatherings. At first, I didn’t understand her anxiety, but afterwards, I realized just how scary it is to live every day not knowing when you could contract cancer. After hearing so much about cancer for the past week, it seems almost normal or not as severe to me, but it is still scary and y predictable. It just made me realize how strong and inspirational those patients are.
Fun Facts:
- According to nurse Melanie, you can have five wives in Utah and there are penguins in Alaska.
- A phlebotomy is a procedure that removes blood to treat high iron levels or blood counts.
- The UNC Rex Hemonc Clinic in Cary is the fun office
- For one patient, his wellbeing is gaged on how often and how well he plays golf.