On August 11, 1962, Neil Sedaka hit number 1 on the Billboard top 100 with his pop song, “Breaking Up Is Hard To Do.” I have heard the song a million times on the radio but it really didn’t strike me as very applicable until this week. You see, this week, I had to “break up” with a woman that has been very instrumental in my fight against cancer.
It was back on January, 29, 2009 that I met Dr. Robin Obenchain. Several years my junior, Robin is an extremely dedicated physician who is also a cancer survivor. It was Robin that had the unpleasant task of telling me that I had cancer a little over a week later. No one ever likes to hear those words and I’m sure no one wants to say those words to someone either.
Yet, Robin was able to deliver the message in a way that didn’t put me in a downward spiral that could have quickly ended my life. She was able to give me the confidence that I would be able to beat this disease and live a good life. There is something that happens between a doctor and a patient when this happens, a special bond that can never be broken.
It is now nearly two years later and I am still breathing and getting to enjoy this wonderful life that God has presented to me. I might have been able to do this with another doctor, but Robin made it easy. Her gentile and caring approach made it easy for both Julia and me to fight the fight with the knowledge that we had someone on our side.
For someone that does not specialize in Multiple Myeloma, Robin has always been on top of the developments and put me on the correct regimen to get me ready for my transplant. As soon as my year of insurance covered care at the Mayo post- transplant was over, she took me back as if I had never left. It has always been a joy going in for my appointments even if I knew I was going to have another hole put in me.
However, United Health Care recently went into contract with the Mayo Clinic and now covers normal care. I was lucky that they covered transplants when I had mine or I would never have been able to afford their amazing care. With that in mind, I knew I had to go back to Dr. Mikhael at the Mayo as he is known throughout the world as an expert in MM. Don’t get me wrong, there is no doctor that I would rather have as I hope to continue this battle into 2011 than Dr. Mikhael. But there is something difficult about leaving someone that helped save your life as Neil said, “Breaking up is hard to do.”
My latest labs are in and despite the fact that they are not as good as my last two, I have no reason to believe that this is a trend. As Dr. Mikhael has told me more than once, this will be a roller coaster ride of ups and downs and this is not even a little bump in the action. If I had received this same test just one year ago, I would have been thrilled. So don’t worry about me.
I’ll start going back to the Mayo in February for both my blood tests and potential treatment if needed.
