Launching My Medical Career

Since Jim's diagnosis, I've been considering changing my career path to something in the medical field. I'm not sure what I want to do. Originally I thought I'd go into massage therapy, and offer free massages to the patients at The Vince. But when I mention massage therapy to my friends and loved ones, I always receive a haughty laugh and the "um, no." When I question it, their response is "Kate, you don't like people. And you certainly wouldn't want to touch strangers." Oh. They got me on that one.

I've also considered medical transcription, which isn't exactly helping anyone, per se, except the doctors. But at least I'd be doing something. The only thing is that I'm a hunt-and-peck typer. I'm a fairly fast hunt-and-peck typer, but I still don't have the proper form nonetheless.

Nursing: I thought I could do it right up through Wednesday, April 4th at 12:03 pm, when one of the new nursing assistants came in to give Jim a Foley Catheter. Watching that being inserted was enough to scare me out of nursing. The poor guy was so nervous - it was his first time doing a catheter. Poor Jim was nervous because it was the guy's first time doing the catheter. There's not a ton of dignity as a patient, I've got to say. I don't think I can inflict pain on people like that. Obviously nursing is a very compassionate field - it takes a special kind of person. Maybe that person isn't me. Plus I despise needles. I gave birth to two kids with no drugs in order to avoid the whole needle thing (and, by the way, I'd do it again without drugs if given the choice). Why would I want to step into a career where I have to stick people with needles?

Physical therapy? No, too much touching.

Nutrition? Hm. Maybe, but it's not something I'm passionate about even though I'm more educated.

Research? Too much math.

Nursing assistant? Nah. I might as well be a nurse.

My last resort is training to be a medical writer, wherein I would translate medical information into brochures, marketing materials, and educational materials that people outside the medical field can understand. It's a possibility, but I question the job prospects. Especially in SHEBOYGAN. As great as the medical care is, I'm not convinced they're going to need scores of medical writers.

So far the two careers I keep revisiting are nursing and massage therapy. I guess I'll start my research. I guess the real point is that I want to help people, and after seeing what cancer patients have to go through, they could really use people who care about them and their plight. The nurses that have helped us - at the hospital and at the Vince - these are the kind of people I want to be when I grow up. Caring, compassionate, good people. People who are so awesome that I swear the healing begins when they come into the room. People that make our day. People that make Jim's surgery pain subside the minute we see them. Those are true heroes. They are helping Jim kick the cancer every day. The very sight of them is calming and positive.

Jim's recovering - slowly. He has pain in his chest and back when he inhales. So, every time he breathes in, it hurts. He's short of breath, so physical exertion - even walking the stairs, is hard for him. He's taking some pain medication and that seems to help a little bit. Dr. Haid said that all these things are normal. We just have to wait them out. All of his blood levels are fine, which is exciting. And so far he's not shown any risk of infection, which is thrilling.

Jim starts chemo again on Monday. His new chemo combination causes a rash that makes him look like a teenager on a double-dose of hormones. He's covered in pimples. His hair was hurting last week, and we thought it might fall out. The real reason that his hair was hurting is because his scalp basically blistered as a result of the chemo. It's clearing up now. And Dr. Haid gave Jim some gel that he can put on his skin to help control the rash. We can't let the rash get out of control because I've read there's a possibility it can do some longer-lasting damage to his skin. The good news: the nurses got all excited when they saw the rash. They said that's typically a sign that the chemo is working. Hooray!

One step at a time. We will move the cancer out one step at a time. Cancer is not welcome in our lives. After Jim is completely healed, I hope that we can use our knowledge to help other people win their fights. I hope we can provide a tenth of the inspiration, commitment, and caring that people are currently giving us.