Being Organised

As promised yesterday, today's blog is all about keeping yourself organised before and during all your treatments.   My team consisted of: my husband who was my ops manager, my sister became my secretary, cook, chauffeur, atm and everything in between, the rest of the family were on top of everything else I needed from time to time.   Friends were often my comic relief.  They visited, took me out for morning tea and made me laugh at the silliest things.  Those who are reading this blog know it's YOU!

Seriously though, being organised is essential.  Both my sister and husband are Virgos (totally obsessive compulsive) and I'm a Scorpio (always seeking justice and truth).  A dynamic combo.

Together we created a slick operation.  I kept a medical folder with sub-dividers titled: Research/Medical Bills + Receipts/Correspondence/Calendar Planner/Insurance/Pain Register/Questions.

I also kept a journal that helped me keep track of all the treatments, supplements, list of side effects and had a specific booklet where I wrote the questions referred to during my medical visits.  

I had either family or friends attend appointments with me as their ability to digest the doctor's comments helped me focus.  I found I often focused on one small negative message as opposed to the other 9 positive ones.  My team would then debrief the appointment and I would write the detailed summary of the event in my journal.  I referred to this journal daily and as time passed I realised how much I came to terms with the illness. 

As far as medical appointment go make sure you schedule them early so you don't have to fast all day eg CT Scans, PET Scans, Blood Tests and the dreaded Biopsies.

Top tips for today are:

1. Keep focused on the outcome

2. Be clear with your expectations

3. Don't worry about the future - today ..... the present is all that matters

Next, I will share the first of many chemotherapy experiences including photos.  This is the time I wanted to crawl into my Scorpio shell and reflect.  I had to learn to ask for help from those who would cope seeing me in pain.  I didn't know what chemo would be like so having cancer pals around got me through some difficult times.