vicic referred herself to north cascade on oct. 4 and by oct. 6 was meeting with an oncologist.
she started her first of four rounds of chemo on oct. 17. her last round will be dec. 19, followed by 14 days of oral chemo. vicic said if she had stayed in the b.c. cancer system, she would have been waiting until november or possibly later.
vicic expected her chemo to last six months but, instead, she chose a more aggressive form of chemo that spanned three months.
it leaves her feeling “shredded” and “horrible.”
“this particular chemotherapy, you don’t lose your hair. so everyone’s like, ‘oh, you look great,’ ” she said.” but literally, i’m destroyed on the inside. it’s destroying indiscriminately cells everywhere.”
south surrey resident sheila vicic
submitted
vicic, who has been travelling to bellingham with each of her three daughters and her husband, has been impressed with the quality of care at north cascade.
“i think our clinicians can’t provide the type of care that i’m getting in bellingham,” said vicic, describing it as “stunning in its efficiency, compassion and resource load.”
for example, she gets the same infusion nurse during every round of chemotherapy, which she said is key to building a relationship.
vicic said she feels terrible for the overworked cancer nurses and doctors in b.c. who are unable to provide the highest standard of care as the system buckles under the weight of high demand.