Week 20 – Wed 17th January – Teamwork

I’ve realised this morning that my recovery process is the result of a great number of teams working with me.

The first team, and perhaps the most important, is my family. Having their continued daily support, whether it be popping in to say hello, bringing little packages that have been posted to Melbourne, sending through a picture of what they’re up to on the family WhatsApp group, or making a ritual of checking in each day with a phone-call on the way to or from work. Jan is worthy of a special mention for her desire to be present here with me in the room to help out in any event, particularly when I’m going through some tough spots.

The second team is the BMT team. On any one day I can be visited by two to eight doctors, who collaboratively work on my case, discussing the previous day’s blood results and working out the plan for the current day and the days to come.

The third team is the nursing team, who are absolutely fabulous and despite constant shift changes, seem to be able to come in and know my situation well enough to continue on seamlessly. I’m getting to know many of the nurses in the ward by now and it’s fantastic to see that a large portion of them are male. This team has a second part to it, and I’m also very grateful to the thankless work that all the ancillary staff do in keeping everything clean and moving smoothly throughout the machine that is this hospital.

The fourth team is the extended family and friends, who are constantly sending me get-well messages and messages of support – which are greatly appreciated and make me feel very special to have such a caring and supportive group of people around me in life.

The fifth team is pharmacy team who are constantly providing updates on the drugs and checking on my progress. I’ve got 6 active lines of fluid/drug coming into me at the moment, delivering 13 different drugs  over the course of the day.

The sixth team is the haematology team, who are not currently active in my treatment (they work up until the transplant occurs) but still drop in from time to time to see how I’m doing.

Another five teams cover our business interests, Ie, Mike and Kate at the top end of Australia out of Kununurra, WA.  Paul at Proway with Bill and Joe.  These guys keep a very complex manufacturing business running smoothly.  Peter and Deb at our Caravan Park at Whyalla – have restored and run the park without any fuss.  Greg and Paul with our new Cameron Park development.  And of course Knox who leases Milford in Tassie.

Without these great people and the teams that they work with I am sure life would be a lot more stressful for me, so they need to be included as part of the Recovery Team Network.

I feel very comfortable, having been involved in teamwork throughout my life I’m well acquainted with the power of good functional teams working together to solve a complex problem (my health) and it’s reassuring that the Royal Melbourne Hospital uses a team-based approach to caring for me.