To give some background on my mom's colon cancer diagnosis, in August 2022 we scheduled her colonoscopy after a consult with a GI doctor, who we talked to about her symptoms. The earliest she could get was an appointment for October 2022, roughly six weeks after we did the consult.

It was during the October 2022 colonoscopy that a tumor was discovered in her colon, and we were told it was colon cancer. After that, everything was a whirlwind. A little over three weeks later, she had surgery to remove the tumor, and that's when it was learned there were tumors in three lymph nodes. 

Three weeks after that we were in a medical oncologist's office after referral to discuss chemo options. Three weeks after that she had surgery to put in a chemo port.  A short time later, her chemo treatments began, and she did six of them over the course of three months.

She's had labs done several times since then where her numbers have looked good, and her CT scans she did over the summer looked good as well.

But part of the post-chemo monitoring process for colon cancer patients involves having another colonoscopy one year after your surgery (if you had to have it initially). 

A referral was made in November 2023 for a follow-up colonoscopy. Because of mom's age, we were told she needed to be "assessed" to make sure she was okay to go through another one again.

We had to wait nearly two months for her to be assessed. That appointment was this week.

Though she was approved for the colonoscopy (which will need to be done in a hospital), when we went to the scheduler to get it put on the books, we were told she had to see the original doctor who did her last one. The problem with that is that the doctor is booked out for the first few months of this year and their office couldn't give us an estimated time frame for when my mom would be able to get her next colonoscopy.

We asked if we could have another doctor perform the procedure because of this, and we were told no but we would be put on a waiting list.

I was floored considering this is to check for any signs of recurrence, to make sure everything still looks okay from the original surgery, etc. 

As everyone knows, early detection of cancer is very important, so obviously we don't want to wait until mid-spring for mom to have her next colonoscopy, especially considering we're already two months behind when she should have had it.

So I spent a chunk of my day Friday doing legwork on this that I shouldn't have had to do, making phone calls and sending emails, furiously trying to make something happen, to get them to understand that this wasn't just a routine screening.

Finally, we got someone who seemed to understand the situation at 4:30 Friday afternoon. She said while it's true they have a rule about a patient needing to see the doctor who performed the original procedure, that the doctor and their nursing staff could review the particulars of the case and determine if mom can either be fit into the current schedule or can be seen by another doctor who can perform it.

But their response timeframe is 48 hours, which means we have to wait at least two business days to hear back.

Grr. 

When it comes to Mom and her care, I don't like to wait.

But it's what I'll have to do. Rest in it. As she explained to me this afternoon, the doctor and their team are being made aware of the issue, will review it, and will get back to me. And being in that profession they know the importance of early detection and not putting things off.

So we'll just have to pray that they get back with us in that timeframe and that they can give us some good news.

And if they don't have good news, we'll get some other members of Mom's medical team involved.

I felt a lot of guilt the first time around for not pushing her more to get the first colonoscopy sooner. But after everything she's gone through, I will fight tooth and nail to make sure she gets the care she needs when she needs it, no matter how many phone calls and emails it takes.

MORE: To read my previous Caregiver's Diary entries, please click here.