This was a deja vu experience, except that CTCA addressed the issues much better. With the previous episode, no Piedmont doctor saw Rudy even though he went to their office 4 days in one week for fluids due to prolonged vomiting. Not once. We felt abandoned.
This time, a doctor saw him right away. He wasn't told to wait til normal office hours and then call. We went right in on a Saturday.
There's a chance he may have to go back tonight. We've been hovering all day. He's still super nauseous and threw up several times this morning. We talked to his care manager and she gave us a few suggestions. Rudy agreed that if he threw up one more time, we'd go back over. So far, he hasn't thrown up, but he has felt like he might every moment. He's miserable.
I may over-ride our agreement and insist he go back over. The amazing thing - even if we decide to go at midnight, CTCA will be ready for us.
ALSO -
Do you believe in more options
for cancer patients in Georgia?
Please go to this link and help
make a change for Georgia residents -
CTCA is trying to get the law changed that limits the number of Georgia patients they can treat. Rudy wanted to switch over in November, but had to wait til December because the Georgia quota had been met. I have heard of some people who tried to get in during busier months and the waiting list was so long, they gave up. I just don't think that's right and neither does CTCA. People deserve a CHOICE. When fighting cancer, a patient should be able to choose where they are treated. They shouldn't be shut off because of a stupid quota meant to give other local hospitals more patients. If other hospitals want more patients to choose them, they need to earn that choice, just like any other business. They need to work hard to take care of patients and treat them well and help them feel truly supported in their struggle. A business that doesn't put their customers first, loses their customers.
Getting this law changed could have a big impact aside from allowing patients a choice. If other hospitals felt their patient numbers were dwindling because to the added competition, they'd likely start working harder. Maybe they'd take a close look at all the things successful hospitals, like CTCA, do that makes patients so happy. It's not that they promise better odds. It's all about how much more they seem to care and how everything in the facility is designed to make a huge life challenge as comfortable as it possibly can be. Every single patient we've met, regardless of their prognosis, feels blessed to be at CTCA. It would be really nice if all hospitals and medical facilities treated their patients so well.
