So much for treatment today....

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kimber3006
kimber3006 Member Posts: 586
edited June 2014 in Stage III Breast Cancer

I got there, got bloodwork, and barely 5 minutes went by before I was called into the treatment room.  I was so happy it was flying!  Then I got my port accessed and....the power went out.  Two hours later they completely evacuated the building.  Apparently some construction workers at the hospital next door took out the power in a big way, then the generator for the emergency backup power started breaking down.  Geesh!  So they told me just to come back tomorrow.  Tomorrow will be a total madhouse with ALL of Mondays patients (no one got treatment today - I was one of the first in the room) plus all of Tuesday's patients.

Then this new nurse (started training last week) starts rolling her eyes and being really nasty about people in the waiting room being upset - laughing mockingly and saying "what are we supposed to do about it?".  Helllloooo?  How about having a little understanding?  We're all here trying to save our lives.  We schedule our entire weeks around this visit.  We have to make sure we're covered at work, find someone to take us there (often involving them taking time off work, too), make sure meals are covered so we don't have to deal with cooking when we get home, get our kids up early and bustle them off to sitters or preschool early, then sit in traffic for an hour and a half (or much more for many) so we can get to our appointments on time, then spend the rest of the week trying to catch up from the day lost in the treatment room.  I realize that she couldn't do anything about the power problem, but her attitude just really hit a raw nerve with me.  Guess I needed to vent a little!

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  • Gayleebug
    Gayleebug Member Posts: 166
    edited February 2010
    Aw, Kimbers, hate that!  I had a situation similar to your when I was doing rads.  Power failure due to a construction crew in another section of the hospital.  So I left & went to work; then got a call to come back -- the power was on!  Aggravating.  Agree that that nurse could have used a bit more tact.  Yell  Vent away!!!!
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  • jenn3
    jenn3 Member Posts: 3,316
    edited February 2010

    Sorry that happened... you're right - our weeks are planned around tx day and to move it to another day isn't as easy as one might think.  That nurse sounds like she needs some more sensitivity training.

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  • Pure
    Pure Member Posts: 1,796
    edited February 2010

    Nice nurse-just the kind of compassionate nurse the oncology room needs. I would have said something:) But I have a big mouth soo.

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  • Pure
    Pure Member Posts: 1,796
    edited February 2010

    fyi-when I first read your headline I thought oh no her blood counts were down:) So this is good news!

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  • KerryMac
    KerryMac Member Posts: 3,529
    edited February 2010

    LOL, I though the exact same thing!

    I know exactly what you mean though - you get yourself all psyched up, you get your life in order expecting to be infused, then it doesn't happen. I am really sorry you have to go through it all again tomorrow. 

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  • shockedat39
    shockedat39 Member Posts: 252
    edited February 2010

    That stinks, Kimber.  And that nurse's attitude sucks.  I remember being desperate to stay on my treatment track.  I once spent the whole night throwing up (because of a stomach bug) and showed up for my Taxol at 9:00 still nauseous as hell.  I told the nurses I had been sick ONLY because I didn't know if it would kill me to have chemo with a stomach bug, lol.  They didn't want me to have it but I took it all the way up to my onc who told them to go ahead.  The good thing was they hit me with the Benadryl pack and four hot blankets and I slept for six hours and woke up feeling great!!!

    I hope tomorrow goes ok for you.  Don't let them rush you or treat you bad.  Maybe it's not their fault but it's not your fault either!ftp://usg:nodust@ftp.hsr.com

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  • YATCOMW
    YATCOMW Member Posts: 664
    edited February 2010

    Something similar happened to me......it was a hurricane that came thru....power went out....and I needed to get my chemo on schedule as I was doing dose dense chemo......the nurses kinda blew it off and I said.......figure it out.... I am not missing a day.

    they moved me to another hospital that had power....it was a hassle but I was not happy that they did not "get it".

    Jacqueline

    LIke pure....i have a big mouth. 

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  • kimber3006
    kimber3006 Member Posts: 586
    edited February 2010

    I plan to be first in line when they unlock the door tomorrow.  My bloodwork and all is done so they ought to be able to move me right into the treatment room and be moving me on out by the time everyone else is just finishing up with the docs or whatever.  Hopefully I'll develop a big mouth if anything other than that scenario takes place.

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  • AnacortesGirl
    AnacortesGirl Member Posts: 1,758
    edited February 2010

    I only have a half hour drive, can easily reschedule since I'm on disability but I'd still be upset and that nurse would really have ticked me of.  If she is so unfeeling about this then what else is she going to blow off when she's working with her patients.  If she's in training maybe they still have a chance to move her elsewhere.  I don't think she belongs in oncology.

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  • kimber3006
    kimber3006 Member Posts: 586
    edited February 2010

    It went pretty well - nasty nurse wasn't there.  DH dropped me off on his way to work so I was on the bench in hall reading my book when they unlocked the door.  It made for a long morning, there for almost 5 hours, but at least I got in.  Some of those people with later appointments are going to be stuck in that waiting room for hours.

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