Just have a little patience

Today's wee trip out to the leafy west end of Glasgow to the Beatson Oncology Centre reminded me of a few things about Cancer patients. Everyone is familiar with the inspirational stories of Cancer patients in their daily battles to survive but very few people seem to mention those patients who don't take their treatments seriously.

It's a minority clearly but some of the things you see in the day units is hard to stomach. I've seen people walk out of the day unit in between sessions to go to the pub for a few pints and a smoke. It's not even so much things like that which gall me the most, it's the ones who seem unable to show even the littlest gratitude towards the medics that are not only keeping them alive but treating them very well in the process. They are never done complaining about how long each step takes and seem oblivious to the fact that things sometimes take a while because great care needs to be taken with the treatment they are receiving as well as the fact that they're not the only patients there. That seems to be the hardest thing for them to understand and while I can understand frustration at times it's always the same ones who snarl at the staff and almost always over really trivial things.

Today there was justified frustration for one woman for whom the pharmacy had messed up and was left waiting for hours till it got sorted but all she did was get herself a wee cup of coffee and a blanket to keep her warm and sat and had a wee snooze till the time passed. I've been in similar positions myself and done the same thing - there is just nothing to earn from getting your arse hairs in a knot about something that can't even be altered by shouting anyway. I always found that I didn't really have the energy to get all worked up about things so maybe it's a testament to these belligerent nutjobs that they can still muster up the energy to act like a spoiled wean even during chemotherapy.

I wish they didn't have to do it in shared areas though, and I especially prefer it when they don't ask me what I think. They never seem to like my responses.

Oh and yes it is a Take That lyric. What of it? Eh?