October 29, 2010….2 1/2 years since I had surgery for breast cancer. The time has flown by, but it was good to go and hear the words “Everything seems fine.” The doctor was actually out of town and I saw his nurse practitioner, Kathy. She was nice and seemed pretty through, although her student was the one that did the actual exam. Even when the doctor has had interns, he did an exam himself. Gary and I both said we missed seeing the doctor. We both like him a lot and he generally spends time visiting about a little bit of everything.
I had an 11 o’clock appointment for the Zometa infusion. They weren’t busy at all, so that went fairly quickly. We were out of there by 12:15. The actual infusion only takes about 20 minutes, but they have to do blood work to start with and that takes awhile to get the results from the lab. When I got there, they decided that I needed to have my arm warmed up as my hands were cold. They got me a warm blanket and wrapped my arm in it. I laughed and told them that that had been the best part of the hospital stay….warm blankets. They finally got ready to put the IV in and I warned them that the vein that they love just above my wrist is a roller among other things. Well, the nurse said it looked so good that she was going to try it. She got it on the first stick, but then couldn’t get blood to fill the tube. She worked quite some time, but never could get it, so finally gave up and stuck me in the bend of the arm. They always have success there. What I didn’t know is that they remove the needle once they have a tiny tube in place (much like they would do with a port) and then I was free to bend my arm while I was waiting for the results. Once they started the IV they told me if I bent my elbow I would crimp the tube and that it would cause the machine to beep. There is no pain with this in any way at least after they get the IV in place, so it isn’t a terrible experience. Since the last bone density test showed that I had increased bone, I am willing to deal with it and I haven’t experienced side effects that I know of. I will have another bone density in April, just before I go to see the doctor again. This will be a big appointment as I will have had my mammogram and the bone density, so he will be reviewing all kinds of things.
Once we finished with that, we decided to go eat as we had about 45 minutes before I had to return to see the doctor….at that point I didn’t know I wasn’t seeing the doctor. Since we had been in Springfield since Tuesday night, I hadn’t gotten the phone message that said I would be seeing Kathy. Just as well as I probably would have called and told them that I didn’t think that was who I was to see. Went to the hospital cafeteria as it is the closest place to eat. The Cancer Institute opened in July and it is right next door to Memorial Hospital. Beautiful facility….attractive outside and in. The nurses were all thrilled as they have a huge chemo room now (used to have 2 different rooms) and they all have a computer to use instead of sharing with every other nurse in the room. It had been so crowded that when family was along they generally couldn’t stay with the patient as there was no room for an extra chair and every chemo chair was generally taken. They have a nice manmade stream outside the front door and a very nice sitting area. Not a fun place to have to visit, but they have worked hard to make it as pleasant as possible. Much nicer than the previous facility.
When I go in for the appointment with the doctor, it is pretty routine. The nurse does weight (they can’t believe how consistent I am), temperature (again, as they take it when I do the Zometa….whether it is before or after the appointment), blood pressure (again!), lots of questions about appetite, sleep, napping (that was a new question and I told them only when I sat down at night sometimes, but not a regular napper), reaction to medication, any new medications that I might be taking and a review of current medications. Similar as a visit to the regular family doctor. The interesting part was that the nurse needed to leave for a minute and the nurse that came to get her asked if she could do something while she was gone. She told me that she knew me and that we were from the same area. Turns out that she (Margie Funk….no idea what her married name is) and I were in 4-H together and she had seen my chart, so she made it a point to come in and talk. Was fun to catch up with her as I hadn’t seen her since I graduated from high school. That has been one of the interesting parts of being in Springfield, I have run across people who I have known or know their family, etc.
Basically when I saw Kathy and her student, it was just more questions and a physical similar to the family doctor and examination of the surgical area and remaining breast. The whole process takes about 20 minutes probably. I was surprised whenever I was told that the doctor would see me again in six months. Actually glad as I like to see him personally. It is “normal” to start going once a year after the 2 year mark. I think the only reason that he is still seeing me is that I still have to have the Zometa every six months, so he might as well see me too. He may change that the next time I see him, but we will see.
The student comment on the bra that I had on. She said it was the nicest one she had ever seen and that she couldn’t even tell which side was not “real”. We then got into a discussion of where I had gotten it. I did have to put in a plug for Confidentially Yours in Champaign. They are the best that I have seen. I have been to a couple of places and I know that they are much better than most and have an excellent selection. The first one that I went to I couldn’t recommend to anyone and the small places have to order.
That was the basic information on the visit. Always a good visit when I walk away and every thing is good. Greg would really like for them to do a PET scan so that he would feel better. He isn’t satisfied with them just assessing the situation. He wants them to give me a “clean” bill of health. I know that PET scans are not all that they are cracked up to be as they so often show false positives, but I know he is just concerned that if something else goes wrong that they find it very early. Nice that he wants to have his mom around a long time. I try to assure him that everything is fine and I think he believes it, but would like them to hand me guarantee….and of course, even with a PET scan there isn’t a guarantee, but such is life. I know that different doctors treat things differently as I have a friend that has had breast cancer that has a PET scan once a year.
Thanks to everyone for their concern. I will try to post a little more often on here to let everyone know what is happening in our life.
