CANCER: Why doctors matter

I would like to respond to Larry Barnes’s letter in the March 8 paper.

I completely agree with him concerning our office and nursing staff at KCC. They are the warmest, most caring people I have ever met. I watch them with many of us cancer patients, when we are not feeling ourselves and confused or just plain depressed and I thought one of God’s angels must have handpicked these wonderful people just to help me through this day. How lucky I am to have them on my side. I have some lifetime friends in the chemo room that I stop to say “hi” and get a great hug when in town.

Congratulations to you, Mr. Barnes, for winning your battle with the help of Dr. Grosset. He was one of the many top doctors at the cancer center and having him on your side must have made you feel you were in good hands.

But some of us are just starting our war on cancer. We are scared and confused. We need a calendar or datebook to keep our appointments. Our lives are turned upside down.

Or maybe we are in the middle of our fight and we feel like we’ve been hit by a Mack truck (several times). So tired that it takes too much to figure out what color of socks to wear, so we go without socks altogether. They tell you your tests are getting better and you got cancer on the run. Hope is in sight and there is a little light at the end of the tunnel. Just keep on going.

Or maybe we are the ones who know we will not win our war with cancer, but we fight every battle with all we have, just to squeeze out as much time as our bodies will allow.

Cancer is horrible. It takes a toll on your mental health as well as your physical health. No matter where you are in your fight you need someone to guide you and you can trust. Having your doctor suddenly leave is devastating. It can feel like the only one who knows you, left you to fight alone. I believed in my doctor and working together.

Kootenai Cancer Center was one of the best in the Northwest. Top doctors and staff. What happened? How sad it is that a few people can make decisions that will affect our lives.

SANDEE TIPKE

Athol