Not everyone receives stellar medical care from the beginning of their symptoms. Prior to diagnosis, David’s attending medical team was less than supportive and he was afraid to make waves for fear of upsetting his medical team.

David wished he knew sooner that complaints are taken seriously within the hospital system. Read on, to see how David navigated his cancer journey and how his survivor story unfolded.

David: The day before I was diagnosed was a nervous one. I tried to put it out of my mind. I hadn’t suspected cancer for a minute but was aware that something serious was going on with me due to having had the symptoms for years. I’d been urinating blood. I’d been going back and forth to my doctors all that time and had been going through lots of tests and never getting any concrete answers.

It was only through getting extremely angry and forceful with my doctor that I’d now been referred to the hospital for the very tests I should have been given years before. A part of me felt that I wouldn’t find out anything new and would be stuck with both the problem and the worry that something was seriously wrong with me.

David: I wish I’d known that complaints are taken seriously within the hospital system. I was mistreated often for the first year and it was only when they had a questionnaire that had to be filled out by all patients that this bad treatment came to an end.

I’d been afraid to speak up for fear that I would upset doctors and nurses and something bad could happen to me. You often feel very vulnerable in the hospital. Especially if you have things attached to you, such as a catheter.

David: I was too tired and exhausted most of the time to think clearly. It was a struggle just to keep my full-time job. If there was something I could have asked, I wouldn’t have managed to think of it. I don’t tend to dwell on it nowadays either because it’s time to move on.

David: I kept positive about it all. A part of me fought that but I said affirmations each day and continually gave myself positive reinforcement. I knew that the chemo, operations and recovery wouldn’t take forever, so I kept reminding myself of that too.

David: On my first night in hospital, I wasn’t able to sleep, and I read the Kybalion. It’s a favorite book of mine and the only reading material that I brought with me. It was the strength that I found from my beliefs that got me through it all.

David: Eventually, you will get through it. Rely on yourself and don’t expect too much help from others. Be grateful when others do assist you but remember that you are responsible for yourself and you will be the one that will get you through this. Believe in yourself.

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