I recently finished a short book by Kat Ward chronicling her bout with bowel cancer. It sounds like the same type of cancer I had only the tumor had gotten way bigger than mine. This lady had a lot of problems that compounded the cancer or in someways disguised it. She suffers from panic attacks and has a phobia about vomiting that forces her to make a decision to discontinue chemo treatment that I did not encounter. Kat has a long history of bowel troubles including chronic diarrhea and bleeding, turned out they also diagnosed Diverticulitis which masked the cancer.
At first the book is an ongoing litany of trouble with her bowels and after a while you start to dislike this lady instead of commiserating with her. Her panic attacks and bowel issues tend to rule her decisions when logic suggests you take a different course of action. Kat antagonizes doctors, nurses and other health care people. She refuses treatments, she disdains appointments, she is rude and selfish. I have a hard time with that behavior because it is so far removed from mine. She seems ruled by emotional outbursts and unable to think through what is being suggested to her because her panic or phobia so rule her decision making.
As the book goes on she finds that some of the procedure and treatment she receives are not nearly as bad as her mind conjures. This realization only seems to temporarily improve her confidence which can be dashed by her own imaginings. Nonetheless Kat gets through the treatment and surgery. She only takes one week of chemo, but does have a full month of radiation. She only has one week of chemo because of nausea and her fear of vomiting. Frankly, it was the radiation that caused me severe side effects that she seems to avoid. However, her chronic diarrhea may mask the side effects.
In the end she has a good prognosis although she seems to have some misgivings. She does make amends with many of the people she was rude to and seems to come away with a greater realization of friends and what they mean to her. I will say, she has an amazing number of friends who seem to put up with a lot of abuse and demands that I'm not sure I could tolerate. I trust she has attributes that outweigh the emotional outbursts.
At different times she becomes suicidal and I think if it had not been for her sons and friends she may have carried it out. Kat does realize what a selfish act that would be and what pain she would cause, particularly her sons and obviously does not commit that act.
What did I learn? Well I learned that people with different types of behavior patterns can have a very hard time. I also learned about the health care system in Great Britain and it appears to be nowhere as cumbersome and bureaucratic as critics of one payer systems in the U.S. make it out to be. She gets into doctors and clinics very readily, and has home health care beyond what I ever had, and for longer periods. However, the missed diagnosis of diverticulitis is bad, it caused her long periods of suffering that may not have been necessary. Misdiagnosis however can happen regardless of the health care system.
This story is not particularly inspiring, but it is educational and for that reason I must say I liked it. I don't like Kat very much, but it is a remarkable journey and I hope her outcome is positive.
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