With our last visit to Charleston, South Carolina still fresh in our minds, we will try to give you a flavor of Medical University of South Carolina, the institution, and what it means to us to return every three months.
The Hollings Cancer Center is well-recognized nationally as a major cancer treatment center and especially for its expert head and neck oncology medical staff.
Basic reference information is at the website: http://hcc.musc.edu/ .
The best part of each visit is the people. The hospital staff greets us with genuine welcome. Most recognize our faces by now if not our names. The lab technicians draw my blood (seven vials full!) and bring me up to date with local goings-on, upcoming weather and how the River Dogs (Tampa Devil Rays’ minor league) are doing at their nearby arena.
The imaging lab technicians talk me through each scan with smiles as if this were their first day on the job; no monotones bred from hundreds of repetitions. They maintain caring eye contact, a gentle demeanor, an apology with each double dose of super-sized contrast liquid, and never a pinch with the dye injection.
The clinic staff is equally attentive and alert to any discomfort I may be feeling. One time I happened to mention that I was feeling nauseated. Within minutes they delivered an appropriate dose of a prescription medication along with a cup of water to drink it down. The doctor and his nursing assistant really listen, not only to our words but also to the tone of worry in our voices. They are never rushed; I feel as if they have no other patients to be seen that day. This is the doctor that caught the Deep Vein Thrombosis development back in August 2007 and called ahead to the Emergency Room so that they were ready for me when I arrived a few minutes later.
We are discovering a home community away from home!
Copyright 2008
www.lindalater.blogspot.com
Posted October 24, 2008
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