1st followup appointments

Today I had my 1st followup appointments with my Surgeon and Oncologist.  Normally I don't schedule 2 doctor appointments in one day but I really didn't have much of a choice since my Oncologist only sees her patients in Reston on Tuesdays and my surgeon only sees patients in Fairfax on Tuesdays and Fridays.  Unfortunately, the doctors were in 2 different locations so I had to do a lot of driving.

1st Appointment:  Dr. Purkert (Surgeon)
My appointment was at 10am.  I left my house at 9am and it took me 1 hour (with traffic) to go 20 miles.  Can you believe that?  In this area, I can.  I was already a little under the weather so by the time I got to my appointment I was so tired.  I don't know if the doctor was super behind schedule or they skipped me because I arrived right on time but I waited in the lobby for 1 hour 15 min.  I was starting to get a little frustrated but since I really like Dr. Purkert I bit my tongue.  Besides it gave me a chance to read the Washingtonian Magazine "The Best Doctors" in Northern VA, DC and MD.  So of course I thumbed through it quickly to see if my docs were on the list.  Yes to Dr. Purkert, Yes to Dr. Wilkinson, Yes to my OB's and whoops, I don't see my radiation oncologist.  Hummm?????  I also had a chance to read the book I got yesterday from my good friend Barb.  I got about 20 pages in and so far it's an interesting read.  I'll talk about that in another post.

Anyway, back to my appointment.  I finally got called back only to wait 10 more minutes.  Finally Dr. Purkert came in.  He talked to me for a few minutes, did a check of all my surgical scars and said everything looks great.  I told him my port scar itched and he told me that a little bit of hydrocortisone cream will help ease the itch.   He then gave me an order to get my mammogram in 6 months.  I thought that was a little far out but he said that 6 months gives my body time to heal from surgery and radiation treatments.  Humm? Oh, okay.  So, I would say that visit was a total of a 5-10 min.  I know I shouldn't complain but it just seems like a lot of waiting for such a quick looksie.

2nd appointment:  Dr. Wilkinson (Oncologist)
It's 11:30 and my next appointment was at 1:15pm.  I called Dr. Wilkinson's office to see if I could get in earlier.  I really didn't want to drive all the way home just to turn around and drive back out again.  I also didn't want to hang out at a store to just to hang out.  Normally I love to shop but I was just to darn tired for that so I made a call.  Belle, Dr. Wilkinson's assistant told me to just come by and they'll fit me in.  Humm????  Does that mean that I'll be waiting in the waiting room for an eternity?  Luckily only about 15 min.  I got called back and it seemed weird to come back to the place that I dreaded so much.  Chemo was not fun for me.  It wasn't to bad since I was going to the "meet and greet side", not the chemo side of the office so I was fine.  First, the nurse weighed me.  128 lbs.  YES!!!  I'm down 2 pounds.  Come on weight, work with me.  :)  Next she asked what questions I had for the doctor.  I actually had a ton but never made a list. So I was winging it.  I mentioned the following questions and when Dr. Wilkinson came in she answered them.

Am I a survivor?  You can call yourself a survivor but we tend to call you cancer free.  Once you hit the  3 year mark (the magic number for triple negative cancer patients) and you haven't had a recurrence  then I'd call yourself a cancer survivor.  But it's completely up to you.

What vitamins can I take?  You can take Vitamin D and a 600 mg of calcium.  They really didn't give me a specific brand of vitamins so I don't know if that matters or not but I'll be doing some research to see what other ladies are taking.

What is my followup schedule going to be?   Appointment with with me in July.  1st Mammo in September and an appointment with Dr. Purkert in September.

My toes are numb still.  Is that normal?    That is completely normal.  It may or may not go away.

My toenails are dead.  Is that normal or is that fungus?  Can't tell yet.  It looks like possible side effects of chemo but when I re-exam you in July, I'll know.

Can I paint my toenails? Yes you can. 

Dr. Wilkinson also told me to make my appointment with the OB.    I'm also going to take the proactive approach to make sure I'm healthy.   I want to get every part of my body checked out.  That includes the dermatologist, dentist, eye doctor and whoever else I can see.  I'm so nervous that my cancer will come back.  This time with a vengence.

She also told me that I needed to keep up with my monthly breast exams.  I do feel around once in a while but I've noticed that where I had my surgery (left arm pit and breast) that they are still really tender to the touch and my breast has a bumpy feeling which I think is scar tissue.

With cancer on the rise these days, you would think that schools would teach girls about their breasts.  Knowing how to examine them and feeling what is a true lump or what is not.  When I felt my lump I knew immediately something was wrong but the younger girls may brush it off and not take it so seriously.  And lumps are something to take very seriously even if it's benign.  But I've been out of school for over 20 years so who knows, maybe they are teaching that stuff in health class.  I hope so.

So I would say I had a good meeting with both of my doctors but I'm completely worn out.  I shouldn't have scheduled both docs on the same day but it's very important to me to have my followups.  I will not miss an appointment and I will take care of myself.   THAT'S A PROMISE!!!