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>> In 2008, 2009, I had a very bad cold in that winter
and we treated it as a cold in upper respiratory
and I just didn't seem to recoup fully from that cold.
I continued with a mild that persistent cough in the morning,
which became a little worse in the evening as I would lie
down and try to sleep.
And it got to the point where I couldn't even laugh
without coughing.
About 10 months later, 12 months later, I went back to one
of the original doctors and I said, "Please do a chest x-ray,"
a chest x-ray had not been done since that original cold.
And sure enough, I did that on December 30th, 2009.
That evening at six o'clock, I got a phone call
and looks the receiver was the doctor.
And, you know, your heart sort of stops.
He was very compassionate with his information,
but I still felt like I'd been struck with a lighting bolt
and he said, "There is a shadow in your right lung.
Because of the location of the shadow
and the potential serious nature of this, we are going to refer
out to a larger medical facility and surgeons
who understand these types of conditions."
The surgeon recommended three rounds of chemotherapy
and that these should be started right away and yet I wasn't able
to get into that facility to do the chemotherapy
for maybe 3 to 4 weeks.
So my family insisted that we get a referral
to another facility in the area where my surgeon was.
And then I met Pam [phonetic], the concierge
at the cancer center and she greeted me with a hug
and very warm, very endearing and she gave me a tape recorder.
And I was amazed that she would hand me a tape recorder
because in the past, I've tried to use recording devices
with medical appointments and only they have a doctor
on one occasion told me "No."
His insurance didn't cover that type of thing
and another doctor agreed, but reluctantly.
In here, they're welcoming me.
They're making me, giving me an opportunity
to actually use their tool and tape record.
She said, "We know that you're under stress.
We know that you're not going to be able to remember everything
so use a tape recorder."
So the next thing that happened that I felt was little
out of the ordinary was that Pam [phonetic] rolled this card
up in front of me that had a multitude
of lovely little blankets and she said, "You know we'd
like you to pick out a blanket and just to kind
of wrap yourself in when you're doing the infusion treatments.
And so then I got an opportunity to meet Doctor Dormady
and he was just a wonderful, warm, caring human being.
He walked into the room.
He was dressed in blue jeans and we could really relate
to his casual comfortable style.
He answered all of my questions.
I got a long list of questions and never rushed me
and gave me an opportunity to express my anxiety, my concerns
and asked my questions.
He was compassionate.
He was encouraging.
At one point, he held my hand.
I really felt like doctor Dormady gave me hope.
And such a simple word I never realized the true importance
of that simple four-letter word
until I was diagnosed with cancer.
I currently am in complete remission.
They don't see any further signs of the cancer.
So I will continue my relationship with Doctor Dormady
and his team at El Camino Hospital Cancer Clinic.
I'm having a drive many hours to get here, but I'm very happy
to do that, to get the kind of quality and compassionate care
that I feel I'm getting here.
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