I had wondered about Giovanna "leaving". I also found her to me very approachable and willing to go that extra mile to help and support me. As some of you know, I have major other medical issues, and I truly felt like a medical football, who was passed from one doctor on to the other. Any time they ran into problems they would pass me on to another medical speciality. Giovanna wrote down all my major conditions...did some research about how they interfaced with my cancer treatment and then phoned me back with her advice. Pure gold to have someone who heard both the nuts and bolts of my problems, but also scratched the shell that I cover myself with, to find the scared and frustrated me. She wasn't flicking her wrist to check the time, or worse, standing up and walking to the door whilst making "busy goodbye" noises to get rid of me. We get enough of that in the hospital system, and so if phoning a help line we get the old "Phone this number, and someone there will be able to help you" just doesn't cut the mustard for me. There too, we are constantly given the bum's rush on phones with "If you want X service...press 1. If you want Y service...press 2. and so on ad nauseum ending with (at last the required number to push). "We are unable to take your call at this time...please leave your name, number and a short message and we will return your call"...never to hear from them. We need to have a person to talk to, and that person has to care.
