How were you born?

Well after three or four telephone conversations my colonoscopy and scan dates are set. Will be drinking 4 litres of divine nectar tomorrow arvo/evening. Colonoscopy is 10am Friday. Amazing how quickly I am being seen now when last Friday I was told very crabbily that 'even priority one patients we have 4 weeks to book in'. Yeah well I'm fuckin' priority one + or one A or one something else. Stick your 4 weeks. I said none of this of course. Only in my head. I did very calmly, well sort of calmly, say that as a stage 4 cancer patient who had a CT scan two weeks previously that showed 'cause for concern' I would hope I could have that camera up my butt a little sooner. Please mark our files. My EMRN number or whatever it is, was put on my medical file when I went to hospital. They have no problem all asking for my Medicare number (Australian Health). Why the hell do they have to be told, at every step, my situation. And every other patient living with metastatic disease.

How were you born? I think I was a natural birth at St Annes Hospital in WA. Improvements to the start of our lives have been exponential each generation. Water-birth options, caesarean sections, home births, and on and on. All safer, better and with happier outcomes all around. The other end of all of our journey's, when we know after so much medical advancement and money spent, that with metastatic disease the outcome beyond 5 years is not radically improved. We get that. It is OK. Generally when you scratch the surface of the dust cloud hiding the people dying with metastatic cancer, all I really come away with is a universal sense of peace. Of acceptance. Why can't we just have the same level of improvement to how we are treated at the probable end of our lives, as has been made to the start of our lives.

Love to all xx