Yearly Dr. Chen Visit

Every year, I visit my oncologist at Park Nicollet, Dr. Cathleen Chen. 15 years ago I finished my chemo for Lymphocite Predomonite (forget the bad spelling), lymphoma. I will tell you if you ever need an oncologist, there is no one I would recommend more than Dr. Chen. Even Jenny sees her for her lymphoma. Before Chen came in I sat and talked to her nurse, Shelby…Shelby and I would become phone pals over the next few weeks. 🙂 Dr. Chen is always running late and Shelby and I talked about it. She said some patients get really upset and I thought…maybe Chen is not the doctor for you. When I was diagnosed, I will never forget that Chen spent almost 2 hours with my family, drawing out what was going on (she said she is so glad Google is available now so she doesn’t have to hand draw things out) and what the next steps would be. She never made us feel like we needed to rush or stop asking questions and I will never forget that. So I always bring a book when I have a Chen appointment and would never grumble about her being late to get in to the room.

So after 15 years of these yearly checkups we tend to talk about other things and often don’t even discuss the blood work she has done until the very end of the appointment. We talked about Caley and Darcee’s upcoming wedding and that I would be the officiant. We just kind of chit-chatted…I think I was the last patient of the morning, so no one waiting behind me.

I told her that my leg was a little sore and I had tried IcyHot and CBD lotion but it did not seem to take the pain away. I then told her about bocce ball and the trip to the emergency room. She thought I might have a torn or strained hamstring. Then she said “Bocce Ball? you need a better story!” LOL She decided to schedule an MRI and did that on Tuesday, September 5th. The day before we would leave for Fargo for the wedding.

The MRI went fine and we started our travel to Fargo. Wednesday night about 6pm, Dr. Chen called and said yes, I do have a torn hamstring, but I also have a “blob” that she is concerned about. She was thinking it might be on the bone, which in that case would take a orthopedic oncologist to consult. Park Nicollet does not have that specialty, so Chen said you need to see if your insurance will cover University or Minnesota Hospital or Mayo Clinic because that is where those specialists are located. All I could think was WTH!!!