Forever Having Doctors Appointments
Yesterday was no exception. I see my medical oncologist every three months now and each visit is pretty much the same:
First a wait in the lobby. A peruse of the magazines. A few new booklets published by the National Cancer Institute: Facing Forward Series: Life After Cancer Treatment and When Cancer Returns.
Then a nurse calls me in. She takes my pulse, measures my blood pressure, records my weight (in kilograms but I always ask them to show me the number in pounds, too, sucker that I am), give me my gown, you know the ones, open in the front, blah, blah, blah.
Then the nurse practitioner comes in, asks me a myriad of questions about a myriad of possible symptoms. She gives me a quick physical, including a clinical breast exam, then says the doctor will be with me shortly. I take out my cell phone and start playing bejeweled to pass the time.
Eons later my medical oncologist comes in, we talk about the same things I just reviewed with her nurse practitioner, except I always seem to give my doctor more information, like I’m holding out on the poor nurse practitioner.
Then I head to the clinic to get blood drawn before I go.
They filled two vials, a light green one and a lavender. It would have been fine if the student nurse (I assume she was a student) didn’t miss my vein the first time needing someone else to step in and try again.
It’s amazing to me that at one time in my life I was nervous before giving blood at The Red Cross. HA!
Then I headed home. That’s it. Short. Predictable. But I’m wiped out.
Someday I should tell you about the neighborhood I used to live in, on the other side of the fence, that I can never return to, ever. The one where breast cancer doesn’t exist.
April 26th, 2007 at 9:24 am
UGH..I hate those 3 month checks..but without them & the mammogram, they would not have found the ADH I have in the other breast. Insurance turned down my appeals for the MRI..I’m done waiting on this..Surgery is scheduled for the 4th of May…I’m hoping there isn’t any cancer hiding in there. Send me good karma hon!
April 26th, 2007 at 9:32 am
I’ll say some prayers for you Kat. Just check in afterwards to let us know how it turned out.
For those of you reading the comments, ADH is Atypical Ductal Hyperplasia — a small set of cells that may indicate DCIS or IDC in nearby breast tissue (read all about it here.)
But you’re right. The doctors visits keep us well after initial diagnosis and treatment so they are MANDATORY!