Today's Appointment with the Nephrologist

z said:

Martha

I'm so sorry about your oncologist, I know I have bonded with mine over the years and would'nt want anything to happen to him.  I asked him one time how do you do it and he jokingly said I see a therapist and then he said he was kidding, he has a funny sense of humor but, I know I would have to see a therapist if I had to watch what my patients had to go through.  He then said I see all the good things that treatment helps people to live. Some people are just made to be care givers.  It makes me wonder how much stress our drs really have going on inside of them.  Lori

I want to thank you all for your expressions of sympathy over the loss of my wonderful medical oncologist, Dr. Thomas Seay.  This has left such a big void, not only in my heart, but the hearts of so many--other patients, colleagues and peers of this great man.  I attended both the visitation and the memorial service, which was quite moving.  Some of the partners in his practice spoke and reflected on some lighthearted memories of him.  He had such a dry sense of humor and some of the stories elicited laughter, which helped a little to ease the pain of his loss.  My friend and neighbor, Dr. Mac, was there.  After the service we hugged and cried.  My colorectal doctor was in attendance, to whom I told I needed her more than ever now.  She said "I'm here," and gave me a big hug.  That gave me some comfort, although I feel as though a big piece of my security blanket has been torn away.  However, I am over 7 years out now and not in the dire situation that many of his patients are, just having been diagnosed or beginning treatment.  I know Atlanta Cancer Care is scrambling right now to make sure all of his patients' care will be covered by another one of their doctors.  I had already planned to cancel my February scan ordered by him, and I still intend to cancel it.  However, unless I'm contacted by his office to make other arrangements regarding the appt. that I would have had with him about a week after the scan, I intend to keep the appt. and see what lies ahead for me.  Perhaps I will be discharged from further care under an oncologist at that time, due to being so far out from treatment.

I did want to post a link to Dr. Seay's obituary.  I know none of you knew him, but I just wanted you to see what an accomplished person he was.  There are many things that aren't even listed in the obituary, such as his tour of duty in Desert Storm and many awards.  The one thing that everyone knew about him is that he owned and flew his own helicopter.  Apparently, just about everyone wanted a ride in that thing, judging from the comments made by the speakers at the service, which had everyone laughing.  He was such a brilliant man, but simple and down to earth in his personal life.  If you watch the video, you'll see that side of him.  His casket looked like it was made from old weathered barn boards--that says a lot about him.  

http://www.memorialsolutions.com/sitemaker/sites/MCDONA6/obit.cgi?user=55436248_TSeay

One of the speakers the other evening was a patient of his who has been dealing with colorectal cancer for 8 years.  She is an attorney and has become quite involved in the foundation set up by Atlanta Cancer Care.  I am posting a link to the foundation's site so that you can hear her story.  I was quite impressed by her desire to help others and all the efforts she has made for several years to organize events to raise funds to help patients who cannot afford transportation and/or treatment.  She mentioned that Dr. Seay often pulled money out his own pocket to help these patients.  He was that kind of person.  The link below is to the foundation's website if you wish to listen to her video.  I am in no way soliciting for donations, I just found her story very inspiring and thought you might be inspired by it as well.  Her name is Sherri Graves Smith.

http://atlantacancercarefoundation.org/

My final thoughts have to do with the passion Dr. Seay had for animals.  If you watch the video on the obituary, you'll see that he was a cat lover, which was quite a surprise to me.  He had mentioned loving horses at one of my visits, and since he had a farm, I just presumed he had horses and perhaps dogs.  I am a cat lover, so when I saw that pic of him and his cat, my heart melted.  There were also pics of other cats he had over the years displayed at the funeral home.  The obituary included a couple of organizations to which donations can be made, along with a request that people adopt a pet in his honor.  So, with that, despite the fact that I already own two older cats, I convinced my husband that we needed to give another kitty a home because Dr. Seay would have liked that.  So, yesterday we brought home a 7-month old black and gray tabby kitty from our local animal shelter who we named "Chopper," after Dr. Seay's other love--his helicopter.  It's a funny name for a female cat, but one that has a lot of meaning to me, so Chopper it is!  She is sitting on my lap right now, purring up a storm.

Thank you for letting me get out all of my feelings about Dr. Seay's loss.  I wish you all could have known him.  He was a crusader in the war against cancer.  The medical community and the effort to find a cure for cancer have lost a person who, IMO, could have made a real difference.

Martha