The Swedes would be PROUD

The "Swedish Cancer Institute" (aka SCI) has a warm, inviting waiting room for radiology.  We are a fucked up bunch back there.  One woman has cancer in her brain and tilts when she walks.  She struggles to finish her sentences.  Another woman has an autoimmune disease that has suddenly riddled her 30-something body with tumors, cut her sight and reduced her mobility (she is recovering now and much better).  One woman has ovarian mets wrapping around her bones like vines, squeezing her and causing excruciating pain.

You can find us by following the laughter.

Every single person -- the nurse, the radiology tech, the doctor -- treats each patient with such kindness and concern.  It's a warm blanket of care.  It's a centered, careful, loving attention.

It's so easy to document our complaints.  How do we document the successes?

I'm going to try.

In radiology, the nurse sat with me and, well, she held me.  It wasn't a physical hold.  She held me with her attention and with her focus.  With her stillness and her heart, she explained to me that she felt that any patient who felt he or she shouldn't call for help was *her* failure.  Her job, she explained, was to ensure that every patient knew they can and should call at any moment for any concern.

The radiology techs greeted me with care and consideration.  Each time there was a shift in who would be on duty, they were sure to overlap and introduce me to the next on-duty tech.  When *one time* there was a small glitch with the computer and I had to sit for a few minutes on the radiation bed and wait, the tech was clearly upset -- not because he feared what would happen to him, but because he did not want *me* to suffer any anxiety.  He was so present and careful and caring.

Errors happen.  But what these radiology professionals illustrated was that it's all about caring how the *patient* feels.  It's not about the mistake or computer glitch or whatever.

The Issaquah Swedish Cancer Institute ROCKS.  I am so grateful I did not go anywhere else.

Imaging was good.  But "SCI" is AWESOME.

The patients I connected with in that radiology waiting space were so grateful for the warm space created for them.  Five of them, independently, and unsolicited, talked to me about how they dreaded treatment at first, but that after starting, starting looking forward to it each day.

I don't want the burns and scars that come with prolonged treatment.  But I have to admit that I will miss this women and the community they build back there.

We of the radiology waiting room are survivors.

Thank you, Issaquah Swedish cancer professionals, for supporting us.

Bravo.

In gratitude,
Suzy