Ed Duerr: On the first trip, Keven and I both flew in, into the Tulsa airport and there was a car waiting for us. Which I was a little surprised by and we got to sit in the backseat of a limo and we were driven to the hospital, and we were put up in a very nice hotel there in Tulsa and it, I was amazed at how little it cost us. While we’re riding from the airport to the hospital there in Tulsa I remember remarking to Keven I said, “I can’t wait to see this place. If this is the way they pick us up I can’t wait to see the facility we go to.” And we pull up and I looked out the door or the window of the car and I remember looking over the facility and I went, “Oh my God is this where I’m going? No this has got to be there outpatient facility the hospital is somewhere else.” And we walked through the door and I stood there in the doorway and just looked and I turned to her and she was already looking at me and I think both of us had exactly the same thought, This isn’t a hospital, this is a resort. This place is awesome! You’ve got a concierge! And you’ve got somebody that walks my bags for me.
Keven Duerr: I had to pick my jaw up and bring my eyes down because I was staring at the facility, it was beautiful and not like a hospital.
Ed Duerr: I found myself being taken care of and not just because this is my job but because these people really care. My care manager out there is Libby Campos, and I’ve dealt with a lot of nurses in my time but I’ve never dealt with a nurse that from the moment she walked in the door I was convinced that she cared about me; not my file but me. And then there was Dr. River, and his nurse Debbie Woods. Dr River is the best way to describe him, he’s a character, he’s a character. I like him. When he first gave me that diagnosis I just looked at him with this blank stare and he says, “OK. Let me explain this. This is what’s happening.” And he explained what it was, what the disease was, what was going on inside my body, what was happening to and with my blood, and this is a blood cancer. And it just, I don’t know I think three to five minutes I had a crystal clear understanding of what was going on. My care team was absolutely amazing as far as talking to me and explaining to me what was going on, what was going to happen, what the options were what I, what I had to deal with.
Keven Duerr: You know I was in the room for every appointment, every discussion and they weren’t talking just to him they were talking to both of us. And when they would get to the end of whatever they were relaying to us; do you have any questions? Do you understand what we’re talking about? And they would ask that of him and of me so and I was apart of every conversation.
Ed Duerr: All of them in the same place is phenomenal. I, I don’t have to go across town to see someone else, to see another specialist, their right there on the same hallway and in some cases right across the hall from each other. It’s phenomenal to have a team like that, and one of the best parts of the team is everyone makes it very clear that they are not in charge of the team and that includes Dr. River. I am in charge of this team.
Keven Duerr: Well, the morning we received the diagnosis from the oncologist we went down to scheduling and were able to get an appointment with the naturopathic clinician for that afternoon, and when we walked in his office he had all the oncologists notes, all of the lab work, he knew everything that he needed to know.
Ed Duerr: And that’s the same, same situation for every member of that team. Everyone has that access to every bit of the notes, every bit of the lab results, it’s all on one master computer somewhere and they all have access to this information. There’s no file to carry from place to place, there’s no waiting in someone’s office while they read your file, they already have the information; they’ve have it. The turnaround time on labs and and any diagnostic work is just, phew I would go in and have blood drawn first thing in the morning seven, seven-thirty in the morning and I would have an appointment with my oncologist at ten o’clock he already has the results. I remember sitting in the gallery one afternoon and it was the day after having one of my chemo treatments and I was cold, and this is having your body’s temperature regulation go out of whack after chemo is fairly common. And this one day I was sitting there and I was cold and I was working on my computer and this very nicely dressed lady came up to me and she said, “You look like you’re cold can I get you a warm blanket?” And I said, “Yes, please thank you.” And she went off and came back about two minutes later with two heated blankets and I noticed her name tag and I asked someone later who that was and he says, “Oh, she’s the head of our HR department.” She didn’t, she didn’t try to find someone to get the blanket for me, she went and got it herself. She interrupted her day to help me. I remember telling someone that when they asked me, “Well, how are they treating you out there?” I said, “Quite frankly their treating me better than I would hope one of my children would get taken care of”. And I have very high standards for their care.
Keven Duerr: For me, I mean I know that I don’t have to worry about him being able to you know make his travel arrangements, or having to worry about changing a flight, or how’s he going to get to the airport. I know it’s taken care of. He’s in good hands. They’ll get his flight arranged, they’ll get him to the airport when he needs to get there, they’ll be there to pick him up when he arrives. I don’t have to worry about it. All I have to do is get him to the airport here, and I know he’s taken care of until he gets back to the airport here.
Ed Duerr: I have to do more planning to go to my doctor five miles away than I do to fly to Tulsa and come back.