Just curious about how often you see your Onc

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nowaldron
nowaldron Member Posts: 94
edited August 2017 in Stage IV/Metastatic Breast Cancer ONLY

Hi Everyone,

Blessing and love to all! I was dx in Feb 2016 with de novo breast cancer; mets to femur, spine, ribs and skull. I had radiation immediately and then 7 months of Taxol with Herceptin and Perjeta. I have been stable (not NED) since last September. I still have HP every three weeks and scans every four months or so (my next is on 9/11).  

I was curious as to whether anyone else gets HP every three weeks but only sees the Dr. every six weeks. I sometimes feel like I am flailing about in the wind, but since the dr. doesn't need to see me, I guess everything is OK. 

It is funny, but I was so much better emotionally last year - even though I lost my Mom a few days before my DX and the love of my life died suddenly when I was having surgery to put a rod in my femur for stabilization. I think maybe this has all been welling up in me...I still work (am a teacher) though I am lucky to have the summers off. Not sure what I am looking for, I guess I am just want to know that I am not in this alone. I receive my treatment at Mass General Hospital in Boston, MA, so I am very lucky there....just a little lost these days. 

I have two sisters whom I love dearly but they think that I will be "alright" (pink ribbons and all) I know they don't want to think about the worst: I am the baby so they have spent their lives taking care of me

Sorry for the rambling, just feeling a little lost these days.

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  • illimae
    illimae Member Posts: 5,710
    edited August 2017

    I completed chemo, surgery and just began radiation. My plan moving forward is also maintenance H & P every 3 weeks and an MO appointment every 6 weeks. Most like just a general follow up to discuss SE's, echo EF rate, etc. I go to MD Anderson and I'm comfortable with the less intensive schedule.

    I'm sorry, you suffered so many losses recently, I can't imagine. Well, maybe a little, 5 of my 6 dogs have passed away in the last 3 years, I loved them more than most people.

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  • exbrnxgrl
    exbrnxgrl Member Posts: 12,424
    edited August 2017

    Welcome from a fellow teacher. At this moment, I'm sitting in my classroom and trying to get everything ready for the start of school. It always feels like I'll never be ready, but somehow it all gets done.

    I see my mo every 6 months. I have been NED for 6 years and though I never forget that I have MBC, I am quite happy that my life is, mostly, normal. I love my mo, but don't want any more appointments than needed.

    Your losses have been heavy and I am so sorry that you've had to go through this. Because I have been NED for so long, many think I will be fine. Though I know that this is unlikely, I'm okay with it. I know the reality of MBC, but also value all the good things in my life that have nothing to do with bc. Take care

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  • DivineMrsM
    DivineMrsM Member Posts: 9,620
    edited August 2017

    nowaldron, I am not her2+ so I don't get hp. Still, I wanted to offer you my support and share my experience,

    The first year, I saw the onc at least every three or four weeks. After the big treatments of chemo, surgery and radiation, I continued to get monthly iv's of zometa, a bone strengthener, as I was diagnosed with bone metastases.

    As things got quieter regarding treatment, it required a mental shift on my part to wean myself off a dependence of seeing the oncologist. I told myself the treatments were doing their job. I learned to stand more on my own two feet and relax and breathe and move forward with every day living. At some point, I went from zometa every month to every three months, which is what I am still at and I see the oncologist then, too. I keep trying to get her to let me go every six months with zometa.

    Something additional that helped me, tho, was beginning regular visits with my primary care physician, two or three times a year. He and his nurse practitoner keep general tabs on my health, he gets copies of all my scans from the cancer center, keeps tabs on my blood pressure, weight and cholesterol,and he is the one who prescribes the antianxiety/antidepressant meds. It is sort of a supplement to seeing to the oncologist.

    I actually hate all the doctor visits now! It gives me some anxiety.

    And reading some very good books like Anti-cancer and Radical Remission and the Blue Zones to keep me inspired helps as well.


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