1. Things that we learned from May to June:
1. Keep in close contact with the treatment team. Get names, specialties, areas of
expertise, floors they work on, when they see inpatients, office hours, phone
numbers, assistant names, head nurse names, everyone. Today I’d get an
organizational chart of the hospital management although I did not think of it at the
time. Keep this information with you. Make copies for those that are assisting your
loved one daily.
2. Ask a lot of questions and write them down. Your loved ones do not have the mental
capacity when going through something like this to remember things, understand
and respond to the many questions thrown at them. They don’t hear everything.
The stress of the diagnosis impacts their ability to listen and sort out what is
important and they become easily confused. They also don’t want to hear this news
of their fate.
3. Do not allow four days to get test results for a biopsy when Cancer is a possibility.
Time is everything. It can mean the difference between life or death. You have to
keepfollowing up evenif it means going to the department that the test took place
and get answers. In this process you may “annoy” people but or be perceived as
being a thrown in the side of the professionals, but what is the alternative? You are
not there to make friends.
4. Write down and keeptrack of ALL medications given, this includes by IV. Write
down dosage, frequency, what is PRN or (as needed). When discharged, do not
leave hospital at discharge without necessary prescriptions in hand. Do not rely on

2. nurse to call into a local pharmacy particularly if you live in New York and they are
pain medications that you need a hard copy script for.
5. Spend as much time at the hospital as you can especially in the beginning of an
ordeal like the one you are about to read more about.