Maria had her fourth session of radiotherapy (RT) today. However, as it was her first as an outpatient it caused all sorts of confusion when signing paperwork. The poor young lady at reception said that Maria didn't have a referral as the neurosurgeon's (dates back to her June surgery - she didn't have any radiation then because she received it in Israel) had lapsed so she needed a letter of referral from Maria's GP (physician). I explained that the GP referred us to the hospital on Wednesday and a new tumour, now in the spine (unrelated to the original referral for her brain tumour), was located on Friday while she was an inpatient under the care of an Oncologist. Furthermore, as the Head of Radiation Oncology visited us on Friday night and opened the Centre to treat Maria over the weekend, we assumed that there was some internal correspondence that would be sufficient. I was a little confused as to why Maria's GP would have to write a referral to thank the Radio Oncology Dept for seeing/treating Maria, albeit she (the GP) had no direct involvement in ordering the MRI that located the spinal tumour, nor was she the instigator of this line of treatment. We all started laughing when she said it was something atypical/new. How many times have we heard this through the journey? I called Maria's GP who simply resolved it with a faxed letter (thanks Suzanne). She is so accommodating!
On another note, tomorrow will be exactly nine (9) months since Maria's first surgery, and over more than five months since her second surgery. Time seems to have flown, yet sometimes I look back and feel as though it all started two years ago!
The painters will probably be finished by tomorrow afternoon, so we'll have the latter part of the week to enjoy the kitchen in its finished state. I'd better run....
