This building looks at me

Radiation oncology is right across the street from where I live. If I were to ever need radiation this is the facility where I would receive treatment.

I remember when I didn't know what service was offered in that building and I secretly wished I had doctor visits there because they'd be so convenient.
Then, I remember having to actually go to a consult in the building to meet my potential radiation oncologist. I remember she said I would definitely lose hair in the spot on my head where the radiation was directed. At the time I didn't really care about losing hair because I actually like having no hair. I also joked about walking over to radiation with a wagon so Brett could pull me home.
Later, after my second brain surgery, I remember dreading the possibility that I would need radiation. After six months of knowing I had brain cancer I had enough time to digest everything, read up on the topic, and know what radiation would do to me (in the long and short run).
All I knew is that I did not want to have to go to that medical office across the street from my house. I didn't care how convenient it would be to get there.
Now it is weird being going back to "normal" life and working during treatment because I can feel the building staring at me whenever I come home. It is like the building knows that nothing is certain and the normality I've achieved could go away with just one bad scan.
Liz Salmi

Liz Salmi is Communications & Patient Initiatives Director for OpenNotes at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. Over the last 15 years Liz has been: a research subject; an advisor in patient stakeholder groups; a leader in “patient engagement” research initiatives; and an innovator, educator and investigator in national educational and research projects. Today her work focuses on involving patients and care partners in the co-design of research and research dissemination. It is rumored Liz was the drummer in a punk rock band.

https://thelizarmy.com
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