Yesterday's Onc Appt

Options
pupfoster1
pupfoster1 Member Posts: 1,484
edited June 2014 in Stage III Breast Cancer

So I made it through yesterday relatively unscathed----I say that because my visit with my doc was just weird!  The GOOD news first, is that she DID NOT think the abdomen area was anything BC related.  She wants me to follow up with my PS to see if it's a result of the DIEP and just something I might have to learn to live with.   She also said she saw no signs of any BC reccurence after her physical exam. 

The weird part was some of the stuff she was saying during the exam.  First she kept calling my DIEP a TRAM flap (whatever right?) and that she's never seen one that she' been really happy with----my left side (ironically the NON DIEP side---implant) nipple recon is not healing well, so I don't know if that's where she was going w/that????  Last visit she said they looked and felt great. Then she said not once but twice during my visit, "there are no signs of reccurence,  but that doesn't mean it won't come back in the future, but there is no sign of it now"---WTF????  She used to say---OK your chance of reccurence is lower each time I see you.  I had to ask her that question this time.   GAACCCKKK!!!  Also she's the "no scan/blood work" type, so I had no yearly tests done like some do.  I know that could be stressful in itself, so maybe that's a good thing.

Oh, and when I left my visit some dumb ass had parked his car literally on the front of my Mustang and chipped the bumper paint.  Got pic and license plate, but hubby (who's a cop) said there's probably not much we can do as no one actually witnessed it.  Left the jerk a nice (really it just stated the facts) note that I'd be in touch.

Work went well after and I my boss LOVED my project so that ended the day on a good note (side note---my left hip decided to go out on me AT WORK, so I was hobbling around in 4 inch heels---lol). 

What a weird day in the Twilight Zone................

Love you guys,

Sharon

· Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Comments

  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
    edited October 2011

    Hey Sharon, glad you got thru your onc visit.  My onc is always insinuating a recurrance is strongly in my future.  Hate it.  But I guess that's what an onc does. Hope each day gets better.

    image

    Barb

    Barb

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • jennyboog
    jennyboog Member Posts: 1,322
    edited October 2011

    I'm glad to hear your appt went ok.  And as for the dr. I think they have bad days just like the rest of us but they don't realize how we read into their attitude as something negative.  Maybe it's also their way of trying to prepare us for the possibility...like we don't have that in the back of our minds anyway :) 

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • pupfoster1
    pupfoster1 Member Posts: 1,484
    edited October 2011

    Thanks girls.  Sherri, I'm a muscle car chick from my teen days.  My 'baby' back then was my 82 Firebird SE.  Black, t-tops, loved that car!  While I was in tx for this stinkin bc we had been thinking about buying another car as my husband doesn't like to drive his police car on days off, and all we had at the time was a lousy minivan (have to be practical at times right?).  So I did all the research and found a buff, black 08 Mustang Bullitt I just fell in love with.  I'm sure people think I just got it because I was "sick" but really I don't give a shit (opps did it again).  I just LOVE it---I feel POWER in that car, maybe it's something I needed to get back since this stinkin BC took so much of it away from me.....................

    Love,

    Sharon

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Outfield
    Outfield Member Posts: 1,109
    edited October 2011

    Sharon,

    I was just thinking reading your post, that if your clinic is anything like mine there's a good chance the driver of the car was there for an oncology appointment.  Doesn't excuse chipping your paint and not at least leaving a note, but maybe he/she was having a pretty rough day.

    I hate that R word. 

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • carcharm
    carcharm Member Posts: 486
    edited October 2011

    If you were in a garage they may have video of the car incident. I bet your onc had to deal with a patient right before you who had a reoccurance and they said "but you said my chances were lower." I find doctors react just like all of us. She probably felt guilty so when it came to be your turn she was going to do just the opposite and be blunt rather than uplifting. Truth is your chances are good you'll beat this!!

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • pupfoster1
    pupfoster1 Member Posts: 1,484
    edited October 2011

    Thanks again girls! 

    Outfield, I know it wasn't intentional, but this isn't the first time someone's dinked up my "baby" and left it.  Also the doc's office is in a HUGE complex and I was in the outside parking lot a whole large building away from where my doc's office is.  Oh well, probably just have to suck it up and pay the $300-$400 it's gonna cost me to have it fixed.  Blah..........I know, it's just a thing.  I'll get over it.

    Sharon

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • elmcity69
    elmcity69 Member Posts: 998
    edited October 2011

    yeah sharon!!

    so glad your onc reassured you about the abdomen issue, and that the visit went well.

    she's being a bit much with her twice repeated comments about recurrence, though. i mean, you got the damn memo about recurrence - i really think oncs can be condescending about it. do they really think we stick our heads in the f#*@(ing sand and think we're "cured"? so obnoxious.

    so screw what she said. you know the deal with being a survivor, and you're LIVING your LIFE. muscle cars and all. take each day as it comes.

    xo

    j

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • elmcity69
    elmcity69 Member Posts: 998
    edited October 2011

    and it stinks about your car. it is aggravating. i would have left a note as well  - especially with that beauty of a car!

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • mokenagirl
    mokenagirl Member Posts: 24
    edited October 2011

    I thought it was just me and my onco. He told me  he doesn't know when I can get my port out, and he wants to do a PET scan every 4 months. I guess they don't understand how much we hang on to their every word. When he told me he wants me on tamx longer then 5 years, I thought "Oh, good, I he thinks I will be here longer then 5 years"!  

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • pupfoster1
    pupfoster1 Member Posts: 1,484
    edited October 2011

    You got it moken!  It's perception.  I wish (I think) that I would get a scan now or then just for peace of mind----but perhaps the waiting anxiety would be worse, I just don't know.  My onc doesn't do them. 

    And that IS great news about your doc wanting you on Tamoxifen for over 5 years----I'd think the same thing! Laughing

    Sharon

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Kay_G
    Kay_G Member Posts: 3,345
    edited November 2011

    mokenagirl, I would have the same thought if my onc told me that.  That is a good thing.

    Sharon, sorry about your car.  My onc is similar to yours I think.  I have been done chemo since the end of July, in the middle of rads now.  At first appointment, she told me I was at a high risk for recurrence so she wanted me to do AC and then Taxol.  I was fine with that.  When all the scans came back okay, she never mentioned recurrence again until my last Herceptin a week ago.  It sounded like she expected it to come back.  WTH?  I realize even after all the txs I've done, I'll be at a relatively high risk of recurrence, but still.  And she said it so matter of factly, it really distressed me.  I think Jennyboog is right, they just don't realize what we read into what and how they say things.

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • NancyD
    NancyD Member Posts: 3,562
    edited November 2011

    Sharon, I hesitate to recommend this, but if you want a scan, but can't get it without your onc's approval, pick an area that you've had some recent pain and exaggerate. They'll come back with some thing innocuous like oesteoarthritis, but they'll also be able to look over your entire body. At least you'll have some peace of mind.

    Of course, you can't pull this stunt very often...maybe every five years. Besides being labelled "the-girl-who-cried-wolf" you don't want to put those radioactive chemicals into your body too often. So you may want to save it as an ace-in-the-hole for when you really do have some fears.

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • pupfoster1
    pupfoster1 Member Posts: 1,484
    edited November 2011

    Thanks Nancy,

    I agree, until I feel it's an absolute MUST I am going to just tough it out for now and just try to learn how to deal with it all.  And thanks to all of you for your support...............

    Love,

    Sharon

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Categories