Time after Time
The hidden costs of healthcare
Something I’ve not really read much about is how much time it takes when you are going through a health crisis. In movies and television there is this cutesy version of the patient gets a diagnosis, quits their job, “Live like you are dying” plays in the background and they jump into an old Jeep with no doors and go on a grand adventure finding the true meaning of love and Christmas. Well, just like every other Hallmark movie, the reality is far from the made for TV version. Not even one playful snowball fight… I mean, so I’ve heard. I’ve never watched one. Really…no, I’m serious.
The fact of the matter is most of us are not independently wealthy. We have jobs and responibilities and our families depend on that income. We live in a world of PTO and deadlines that don’t care that you have cancer. I get paid to get s#*$ done and if I’m not there I can’t do that.
Since March 2025 the amount of time it has taken, between office visits, surgeries and treatments is mind boggling. Plus you figure in commute time (got to love Austin traffic!) and you are talking days, not hours, of lost time. This is time I have to make up somewhere. Fortunately I can do some of my job remotely, and I spend some of the time in waiting rooms or hospitals on my laptop doing what I can. That is one of the most stressful things about all of this for me. I like my job and I want to be there doing it. Cancer is taking that away from me too.
But it doesn’t end there. My wife, Deborah, comes with me to most of these appointments. That means she’s taking time from her job as well. She is a beautiful human being and would never say it, but I can tell there are days where having to leave her job for my appointments is stressing her out just as much as it does me. Plus, she’s holding it all together when I can’t. The sacrifice and strength of the loved ones on the front lines often gets overlooked. Deborah, thank you for everything.
As much as I love my team of doctors and nurses, sometimes I don’t think they really understand the missed time aspect of all these visits. Granted, it’s not their problem. Their job is to give me the best care (and by the way, they are killing it!), but it sure is time consuming. I once had an appointment in the morning and went back to work (about a 30 minute drive to my office) afterwards. Just as I sat down to get back to my day, I receive a call from that office asking me to come back because they forgot to do something. I’ve had them call to see if I could go get blood work done the same day because someone forgot to put it in the order. It can get a little frustrating when all you really want to do is your job.
I promised myself when I started this I would always try to end each one on a positive. So, even though this does take a lot of time I have to remind myself that it’s just part of the process of getting better. Hopefully this time next year we are on the other side of this and all this time and effort will be worth it. I hang on to that hope right now. I held on to it last year, and even though it didn’t work out the way I wanted, I think we are on a better course of beating this thing for good.
I was able to spend the week in Asheville, NC for a work trip with Deborah and though I was in meetings a lot, we did get some time to relax and explore a new place ( our favorite thing to do). It was a welcome respite before the next steps in this journey. I’ll have a port placed on my shoulder on Tuesday for the chemotherapy treatments that will start soon after. There’s got to be a way to hook my margarita machine to that thing! I’ll keep you updated on my efforts to do that (someone has to be the first!). Thanks to all of you who read this, pray for me, or think of me in any capacity. Some of you have shared with me your personal journeys and I thank you for that. It makes the world a little smaller and less scary. You all mean the world to me and your messages always put a smile on my face.
