For those of you keeping up, I went in for my six-month check-up with my oncologist on Monday. To say I was dazed and confused by the time the appointment was over is a bit of an understatement.
However, before I go any further I will put your minds at ease and tell you that I am doing well and am still cancer free. The X-rays looked great and since I haven’t gotten any phone calls, I am assuming my blood work is fine also. They will only call me when the news is bad.
The visit started off with an overview and follow-up from a nurse practitioner in the office. She asked if I was having any issues - you know the typical doctor/patient dialogue. Then my oncologist came in holding his chest and spouting foreign words and phrases like, “soon to be 40” and “mammogram” and other such nonsensical terms.
Here’s where he drops the doom and gloom:
Did you know that when you have radiation treatment in the areas I had radiation treatment (neck, chest and side) that it increases your risk of getting heart disease, breast cancer and thyroid disease/cancer?
Did you know that while not a rare form of cancer, Hodgkin’s Disease is not considered a common form either? And did you that the recurrence of Hodgkin’s is not only possible, but more likely probable?
Of course you did. Or you should have because I was told that during my treatment a couple + years ago. However, what I was not informed of was the significance of the risks. He went on to say that now that I’m in remission he wanted me to go to a survivorship doctor. They specialize in more foreign phrases like, “all the long-term effects the treatment did to you”.
Excuse me? Long-term effects? Like how long is long-term? A year, five years, a lifetime? You mean there are more potential problems than neuropathy and difficulty breathing and migraines and hypochondria? Good grief – literally.
So then he goes back on the mammogram thing. He told me that I need to have a mammogram because:
1) It is that time in my life that it needs to be done and
2) They need to check to make sure the radiation treatment hasn’t caused me to have breast cancer … but, … wait for it … he doesn’t like the fact that to check the possible damage of radiation you have to have a mammogram and that is essentially putting more radiation in your body so I have to see this survivorship doctor first (but not for six months I might add) to see if there are other ways to do a mammogram or some other facsimile thereof. However, before I go see the survivorship doctor, I have to have a chest x-ray which also pumps more radiation into my body. So I really don’t see the difference in just getting the mammogram versus having another x-ray and then being told to get a mammogram … see why I’m confused?
Bottom line is that most tests for cancer involve coming into contact with some form of radiation. X-rays, CT scans, MRIs, PT scans, mammograms all have the potential to do harm over the “long-term”. And if you have had cancer and are in remission then the number of tests you have in life is increased exponentially as you will need to continue having these tests to monitor your health. The radiation treatment for cancer might cause cancer. Aftercare testing might cause cancer. Airport security might cause cancer. Drinking the water might cause cancer. You get the idea. And that’s just the effects of the radiation. Don’t even get me started on the “long-term” effects of the chemotherapy … mostly because I will need to talk to the survivorship doctor first to get a list of potentially harmful and “long-term” side effects that have yet to raise their specter.
When I left his office, I seriously had no clue as to what he just said to me. I knew I should have taken someone with me or at least recorded the conversation. So as of right now, aside from the migraines I continually have, I don’t think I have any health issues …
Oh, but wait! I have to schedule an appointment with my GP for blood work and other stuff. I went in December with my annual 10 month long sinus infection that I always seem to get at that time of year and he had the nerve, the unmitigated gall, to tell me that I was at “that age” in which I should start getting regular six month check-ups to check my cholesterol, blood sugar, blood pressure and whatever (sigh) middle-aged people have to deal with. Gah! “That age,” indeed! I would be incensed if it weren’t somewhat maybe kinda true. But still, he didn’t have to say it. I have feelings, you know.
Anyway, as always I appreciate your prayers and kind words of encouragement. It means so much to me. I hope your New Year is going well.
God bless,
Kat
1 Peter 5:7
However, before I go any further I will put your minds at ease and tell you that I am doing well and am still cancer free. The X-rays looked great and since I haven’t gotten any phone calls, I am assuming my blood work is fine also. They will only call me when the news is bad.
The visit started off with an overview and follow-up from a nurse practitioner in the office. She asked if I was having any issues - you know the typical doctor/patient dialogue. Then my oncologist came in holding his chest and spouting foreign words and phrases like, “soon to be 40” and “mammogram” and other such nonsensical terms.
Here’s where he drops the doom and gloom:
Did you know that when you have radiation treatment in the areas I had radiation treatment (neck, chest and side) that it increases your risk of getting heart disease, breast cancer and thyroid disease/cancer?
Did you know that while not a rare form of cancer, Hodgkin’s Disease is not considered a common form either? And did you that the recurrence of Hodgkin’s is not only possible, but more likely probable?
Of course you did. Or you should have because I was told that during my treatment a couple + years ago. However, what I was not informed of was the significance of the risks. He went on to say that now that I’m in remission he wanted me to go to a survivorship doctor. They specialize in more foreign phrases like, “all the long-term effects the treatment did to you”.
Excuse me? Long-term effects? Like how long is long-term? A year, five years, a lifetime? You mean there are more potential problems than neuropathy and difficulty breathing and migraines and hypochondria? Good grief – literally.
So then he goes back on the mammogram thing. He told me that I need to have a mammogram because:
1) It is that time in my life that it needs to be done and
2) They need to check to make sure the radiation treatment hasn’t caused me to have breast cancer … but, … wait for it … he doesn’t like the fact that to check the possible damage of radiation you have to have a mammogram and that is essentially putting more radiation in your body so I have to see this survivorship doctor first (but not for six months I might add) to see if there are other ways to do a mammogram or some other facsimile thereof. However, before I go see the survivorship doctor, I have to have a chest x-ray which also pumps more radiation into my body. So I really don’t see the difference in just getting the mammogram versus having another x-ray and then being told to get a mammogram … see why I’m confused?
Bottom line is that most tests for cancer involve coming into contact with some form of radiation. X-rays, CT scans, MRIs, PT scans, mammograms all have the potential to do harm over the “long-term”. And if you have had cancer and are in remission then the number of tests you have in life is increased exponentially as you will need to continue having these tests to monitor your health. The radiation treatment for cancer might cause cancer. Aftercare testing might cause cancer. Airport security might cause cancer. Drinking the water might cause cancer. You get the idea. And that’s just the effects of the radiation. Don’t even get me started on the “long-term” effects of the chemotherapy … mostly because I will need to talk to the survivorship doctor first to get a list of potentially harmful and “long-term” side effects that have yet to raise their specter.
When I left his office, I seriously had no clue as to what he just said to me. I knew I should have taken someone with me or at least recorded the conversation. So as of right now, aside from the migraines I continually have, I don’t think I have any health issues …
Oh, but wait! I have to schedule an appointment with my GP for blood work and other stuff. I went in December with my annual 10 month long sinus infection that I always seem to get at that time of year and he had the nerve, the unmitigated gall, to tell me that I was at “that age” in which I should start getting regular six month check-ups to check my cholesterol, blood sugar, blood pressure and whatever (sigh) middle-aged people have to deal with. Gah! “That age,” indeed! I would be incensed if it weren’t somewhat maybe kinda true. But still, he didn’t have to say it. I have feelings, you know.
Anyway, as always I appreciate your prayers and kind words of encouragement. It means so much to me. I hope your New Year is going well.
God bless,
Kat
1 Peter 5:7
