Interview of patient 3
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Reaction to diagnosis
DR LOVE: The next patient I chatted with received her adjuvant therapy as part of a clinical research trial.
PATIENT 3: Actually, I was scheduled for a different type of surgery, a hysterectomy. Prior to that, you have to do all the preadmission testings – x-rays and what for – and that’s when the cancer was found.
DR LOVE: Had you had any serious medical problems in the past?
PATIENT 3: No.
DR LOVE: What was your reaction when you heard about this?
PATIENT 3: I was upset. I was so looking forward to surgery. I suffered a lot every month, so I was really looking to it, and I was scared.
DR LOVE: What’s your home situation?
PATIENT 3: I’m divorced. I have two adult children, one 22, one 33, and two grandchildren.
DR LOVE: And how did your children react to this news?
PATIENT 3: When I found out, well we did – I don’t know, other testing. So I contacted my daughter who’s been my rock. I mean I was very upset. I couldn’t stop crying. I just knew – I just saw this as a death sentence. And my daughter constantly talked to me and let me know “Mom, cancer doesn’t have to be a death sentence anymore.” She’s actually an employee of the hospital. And she’s been very supportive and she stuck by me and she went further to all my appointments. When they did the biopsy and everything, she was right there with me.
