Emma Del Vecchio
Psychology 758: Rebecca Warner
May 2016
Report on Patient Interview
The person that I chose to interview for this report on a patient was my grandfather, who
I will be calling William. His current age is 78 years old, but was diagnosed with
Adenocarcinoma of the Appendix at the age of 69. He is an individual who is currently in
seemingly overall health, spending each and every morning exercising in the basement of his
home. This Adenocarcinoma of the Appendix, also called Appendiceal Cancer, started showing
symptoms for the patient in the early Fall of 2006. William had a variety of different experiences
with healthcare professionals in his treatment experience, and this discussion was explored in
detail during my interview.
Overall, I asked about 15 questions to William during our interview. During the interview
in a few different situations, William explained that some of the information I was asking in the
questions did not necessarily apply to him, but that he could continue to try to answer each and
every question based on his own personal experienced. He mentioned several times during the
interview that he could answer the questions better by combining them, so my format for the
questions changed slightly. He explained that no two people experience life-changing
circumstances in the same way, and because of this he discussed the fact that he adjusted his
responses accordingly.
Question #1: What is your age currently, and at what age did you learn that you were first
diagnosed? What type of cancer did you have, and how did you first become aware of your
cancer?
Question #2: What kind of symptoms did you first notice during this time period? Did you
consult with anyone to discuss these and how they made you feel? Do you feel as though
they helped- why or why not?
Response: My current age is 78, and I was diagnosed at the age of 69. In the early fall of 2006, I
started to experience occasions of spitting up blood. My primary care physician suggested that I
have an x-ray of the chest and that started this whole process. I was referred to an Oncologist
who in-turn sent me to a doctor to perform a needle aspiration and then to another doctor for an
exploratory laparotomy. It was at the laparotomy that appendix cancer was diagnosed.
Analysis: The response to this question relates to the patient’s current illness and health at the
time, as well as the process of becoming a patient and information about first noticing symptoms.
This response also discusses the patients’ adherence to medical treatment.
Question #3: Briefly describe the thought process you underwent in deciding what kind of
medical help you wanted, if any. How did you come to this conclusion? If you went to a
doctor, how did you decide upon which doctor to receive care from?
Response: To find out that the operation revealed a rare form of cancer was devastating and
unbelievable. I had stopped spitting up blood and I was feeling feel, and given the test results, I
felt that somehow a terrible mistake had been made in the diagnosis. If I was so sick why didn’t I
feel something! Who should I turn to for medical advice? I felt I was falling into a deep hole.
Analysis: In this response, William discusses the immediate feeling of stress he felt as he was
diagnosed. From the initial day of diagnosis, this stress level could have played somewhat of a
role in his physical and mental health. This response and feeling of helplessness William explains
exhibits the beginning of the sick role he will be taking during this experience, as well as his
initial sources of information.
Question #4: What types of treatment options were you given? How do you feel this process
was for you in terms of your feelings?
Question #5: What types of information did you initially receive from your doctor? How
did you go about making these types of medical decisions during this time period?
Response: Initially I felt confused. I was undecided as to how to move forward. The doctors I
relied upon referred me to other doctors and each doctor in-turn referred me to yet another
doctor and each doctor had a somewhat different approach. One doctor suggested I do nothing.
He wanted me to wait 6 months and get retested and then make my decision. Another doctor
went to the other extreme and told me that I was in stage 4 cancer and beyond curing. He
recommended I get my “financial affairs” in order and that I probably had maybe 2 years to
live. Other doctors gave me variations of these two extremes. These kinds of comments did
