One of the things I have learned going through cancer was that you must challenge the norm. At the end of the day, This Is Your Life You Are Dealing With, you have as much right as the doctors do to make decisions that regard your life. They will tell you that when it comes to the crunch, the decisions is yours, exercise your right to do so but make certain you know what you are talking about.
Today came a new challenge for the radiologists. We had a day of radiation planned but after seeing what my brother was going through over the past few days I asked him to challenge the system. Last week on Friday he was to get radiation treatment but again couldn’t because of the method of the procedure. I noticed last week after spending sometime with my brother and chatting with him when a thunder bolt hit me. I thought that if we used some of the tools like some of the head and chin wedges from CT scans where the patient would lay face down while getting a CT scan. My question was, “Could this method be applied to this procedure, radiation therapy, for this particular case due the size of the tumour in my brothers throat?
While I was at the hospital on Friday last week, 3 days later, I mentioned to the radiologist that day if we tried something like face down, where he feels comfortable and no breathing problems from phlegm blocking the throat, could this be done. His response was, “No! He needs to be in that position on his back for it to work properly. So I left it at that and, for another day, radiation therapy was again put aside because of a problem they had with no solution but was so obvious to a laymen in the field of medicine but very skilled from the years of theoretical and practical research.
Today, three days later, we went back in for another round of radiation and again the same problems arose so I again challenged the radiologist, another guy, and asked if there was a possibility that we could have a look at trying to have him face down. Do you think the procedure can work this way. This radiologist jumped at the thought because he could see there was a possibility that it may work and he will be putting his recommendations to the Registrar of Oncology so that they can make a decision about continuing radiation now that we might have an answer.
Why was that important? the tumour covers 100% of the mouth where aspiration is only through the nose. With the build up of phlegm at the back of the throat means that he would not be able to breathe, he would simply choke on phlegm. To be able to reduce the size of the tongue we need to continue radiation. To be able to do this they needed to find a solution and find a solution quickly. As we have given them something to think about and if the Registered Oncologist agrees then maybe we may have a new method for patients in a similar situation as my brothers case.
There is no such thing as there is only one way. There are options out there for us;
We Just Need To Find Another Way To Make It Happen.
There Are Always Options! We just need to find them. We all walk blind sometimes as humans, sometimes we choose to see and sometimes we choose not to. Keep the mind open and there will always be options.
