Here's what might be a typical train of thought for someone surviving cancer. That someone, in this case, is me.I have been getting sicker and sicker for the past three days. Sore throat, sore ears, and a heavy head made me think at first it was some sort of sinus issue. Add a cough, a rumbling and painful chest, sore gums, chills and sweats, and a fever roaring past 102.8 and the worries start rolling in. I feel like I did twice before, just before I was admitted to the hospital with dipping white blood counts.
The worst of it hit Friday night and since I just couldn't make myself sit in the ER for hours on end, I overstepped my boundaries, tracked down my hospital's on-call oncologist, and listed off my symptoms. Since my treatment for breast cancer concluded one year ago, the doctor wasn't worried. He called it an infection and called me in a prescription. In a few days, when my course of antibiotics run out, I should be fine.
Kris Carr said in her documentary Crazy Sexy Cancer, "Is a cough ever just a cough?" For someone surviving cancer, like me: No. It's is always something else first. Only after a little panic does it usually turn out to be just a cough.
1. It took a very long before I stopped viewing various symptoms and ailments through the cancer lens. (Oops, sometimes I still do.) But there's nothing the matter with thjis fear, as far as I'm concerfned. After all, it's very easy for me to look back and list all the symptoms and complaints thatI never dreamed were cancer, and ignored them accordingly--with potentially fatal results.
Regards,
Richard Day Gore
Posted at 7:24AM on Sep 5th 2007 by richard day gore