Oncology “Meet and Greet”
…at which I was met and greeted by something I didn’t expect or want.
I’m going to try to sum up without any minute details. Pete and I met with the radiology oncologist for a consultation about radiation therapy, which I have been on the fence about receiving.
P was in the room with me, the doctor was an older male who went to a lot of trouble to inform us all about radiation, and patiently answered questions. Then he gets a gown out of the cabinet and wanted to do an exam. Sigh. Ever since the beginning of this “journey” (that word strikes me as a bit twee- I’m going to replace it with odyssey) I’ve had my breasts smashed and handled and cut and it seems like you can’t have an appointment without everyone lining up to take a peek. But he’s a doctor, right? He probably wants to see how healed up the scars are.
I sat on the edge of the table and doctor feels around on BOTH breasts. He stood with his back to Pete. While he was examining me, he pressed his crotch against my knee. Annndd, he had an erection. This happened fairly quickly, but I had time to assess the situation enough to be certain that was going on. I was in a state of disbelief. He finished the exam and asked me if I wanted to get dressed before we continued talking. Uh, YEAH.
When he returned, we kept on with the consultation, with doctor addressing my boobs instead of my face 75% of the time. We got done with the appointment and I said I wanted a copy of my pathology reports, which he cheerfully gave me. I knew I was going to seek treatment elsewhere for sure. Hard pass on Doctor Dick, if you’ll permit me one pun on a topic I find no humor in.
I went home furious, and stayed furious for another day while I scrambled to find another facility. I also wrote a letter outlining my experience and sent it to the board of directors at the hospital.
It took me three days to wrangle a referral to another radiology oncologist, but I got one.
I am so angry that I had to go through all of this rigmarole while I am going through this health crisis. I could go on, but I wanted to blog this and get past it.
Peeping Gator 