Cindy is here today with her final post for The Survival Project. I’m so thrilled that Cindy has found a bit of comfort in the Chino – I hope it brings her peace and organization for a long time to come!
Hello to all again..this is Cindy with my final entry on my Survival Guide to living with Chronic Illness.
It has been an interesting few weeks in my life. I have had several ER visits as well visits to my oncologist, urologist and orthopedist…Basically Cushings is tearing up my body with an unknown location of a pin head size tumor and my cancer areas we were watching show some growth. My body feels like I am ran over by a train and with many unknowns, my survival guide has helped in ways I couldn’t have guessed.
My final set up worked great…my family/friends were able to show the doctors who haven’t treated me before what was diagnosed and what was in need of checking. I won’t go into details but without prior notes, I was able to have expedited treatment.
My medications were noted, prior surgeries, my type of cancer and my allergies…all in my survival guide. My forms made for my doctor have now been implemented in their office for patients. I felt that was a small victory for patients in itself. 🙂
My color codes for my family worked perfectly along with the color flags being used for direction
(Urgent, to be done soon and just to do when can) this helped those helping me know which tasks needed to be done without asking me..I get really stressed in worrying about things being done.
My -ME- section still gave me a voice. My feelings whether good bad or indifferent made me feel like I still had a choice…actuality I really didn’t but it did give me an outlet to say what was on my mind.
In closing, this project helped me unload my brain, put things that needed to be done on paper instead of thinking I told someone I needed the help, and gave directives to those who needed to know more about me. I found a little bit more about me too reading back thoughts I had written down.
I thank J and Janet for allowing me this chance to present my life with illness and for showing me what really needed to be done to have proper care when I wasn’t able to speak myself.. Anyone here with an illness or needing to make proper arrangements for parts of their life, I encourage you to sit down and start sorting it out. It may just be your own life you are saving!
Cindy, Thank you for presenting a beautiful series of posts. In addition to sharing your personal trials, you have shown the importance of taking the lead in our own healthcare.
Congratulations on having your Dr.’s office adopt some of your forms!