21/05/2024
******IMPORTANT! LONG, BUT PLEASE READ********
As a healthcare professional, I keep abreast of the latest in healthcare news by subscribing to several healthcare-related publications and news sources. I glance over them daily, choosing to read the ones most dear to my mission and heart. Today, I read an article that I was both thankful for AND infuriated by, and I want to shed light on the subject here.
This article was about overdosing deaths from chemotherapy. Specifically, one called fluorouracil, better known as 5-FU. This was the chemo I was given in oral form, then in combination with another chemo via infusion, after my surgery. This is the chemo that CHANGED MY LIFE.
This "change" is rather complicated; on one hand, it helped to shrink my tumor for more effective removal. On the other hand, it almost killed me. I was told I had a "neurotoxic reaction" which, it most certainly was; I lost my vision, hearing, and simultaneously felt I was on fire and being electrocuted. But, after reading this article, it appears that it is also possible I may have lacked an enzyme/enough of an enzyme that allows for proper metabolization of this drug. AND, there was an affordable lab test that could have been done prior to my therapy, to see if this was true! Then, when I refused to go back for another infusion, I was met with disbelief and disgust (NOT by my physician, but by some members of his staff that were then "dealt" with); can you imagine what may have happened if I put MORE of that into my body? The ending of my cancer treatment story could have been a LOT different.
I am ecstatic that this lab test exists, but I am heartbroken that it is not standard procedure to test patients prior to giving them this drug and, therefore, saving lives and A LOT of PAIN! Apparently several people die agonizing (believe-you-me, it IS agonizing) deaths from this preventable "overdose" EVERY YEAR and the "powers that be" don't want to make testing standard because discomfort is just the reality of chemotherapy and it may prevent patients from moving forward with the prescribed treatment, leading to their ultimate demise. And THIS ladies and gentlemen, is what INFURIATES ME!!
First and foremost, OUR LIVES ARE OUR OWN, to do with what we wish. NO ONE and NOTHING- expert or not- has the right to stand in the way of whatever decision you feel is right for YOUR life!! It is NOT up to a physician or a scientist or an insurance company to decide what is best for YOU. To WITHOLD INFORMATION and viable options regarding your PERSONAL HEALTH for fear you won't move forward with treatment THEY feel is best for you, is an absolute absurdity!
As a nurse, it was drilled into me that my first and most important objective is to be a PATIENT ADVOCATE. I have upheld this aim more than any other in my entire career, even when I was accused of insubordination and ripped a new one on multiple occasions by physicians for always putting my patients FIRST, and never regretted it.
In medical school, physicians-in-training are taught to first, DO NO HARM. In my last 20 years, I have found that this is most often interpreted as "Do not let die". But here is the thing: WE ALL DIE. It is inescapable. So, should we not rather translate that to "EMPOWER those in our care to UNDERSTAND so they can then move CONFIDENTLY in the direction that most aligns with THEIR life's values and goals"?
YOUR HEALTH MATTERS. How YOU feel about YOUR health, matters. How YOU want to be treated, matters. If you ever find yourself in a room that is not serving you respect, autonomy, or compassion, it is time to find yourself another room!
