Doctor Visit and Correction

Update: my bestest friend Nancy came through surgery feeling great and went out to a movie and dinner with her husband afterwards! Now that's the Nancy I know. Thanks for sending her healing thoughts. Let's hope she's finished with all of this now.

I had my every-third-week oncologist appointment preceding chemo today, and we're both pleased that my weight has stayed level after all these months. Many women gain 20+ pounds during BC treatment, but I worked too hard to lose lots of weight last year, to give back that ground because of cancer. There was a water-weight and BP spike last visit that seemed to alarm him, so I began regular walking and tried to avoid birthday cakes, and this visit my weight was back to where it was at the beginning of treatment. The steroids delivered with Taxol once a week really mess with the scales. Following treatment, continuing my weight loss as originally planned will be the most proactive thing I can do for my future chances of recurrence. I recognize it will be even more difficult to lose weight after menopause and with the hormone treatments for several years. That's even more reason not to give ground this early in the game.

Last visit he had been very concerned with the muscle, joint, and bone pain I had during the first few weeks of Taxol, since the weekly treatments should have kept that from happening. My solution was to get out and exercise more, and now the aches and pains have gone away!

Headaches and insomnia have been my hardest challenges in the past 2 or 3 weeks - and they exacerbate each other, with chemopause playing a big part. My doctor now tells me that chemo tends to aggravate headaches in those of us prone to them. I don't blame him for not mentioning it earlier. Today the nurse suggested I forego the anti-nausea premed, because it causes headaches. No headache this evening!

My doctor, the ultimate rationalist, asked me if I'd tried acupuncture. He asked a lot of questions and was really interested in what ways it has been helpful to me. He was trying hard to understand how Chinese medicine might intersect with the scientific, rational world he inhabits. I love it when you can watch a young doctor reach outside his comfort zone to consider alternatives. I can see that his compassion for his really sick patients must be pushing him to stretch in order to relieve their discomfort. Compassion + mighty brain = good doctor.

I rescheduled my next treatment so that I can attend the Cancer Center's Nutrition class on What To Eat During Cancer Treatment. There is also a quarterly class being taught in June about current research, After Treatment: The Role of Diet on Survivorship. Once I start bouncing back I'll also take some of the specialized yoga classes they offer. It's too tricky to try to take a gym class when your hands are too busy to keep your scarf from falling off your stubbly head. There's also a free Celebration of Life festival in early June, outside, overlooking the beach, with music, food, crafts, etc. I'll probably go alone and hope to make some new friends.

I was wrong in the last post: I have five more treatments left. Then I can start radiation right away. :Sigh: My PPO insurance is not contracted with the sole provider of radiotherapy in Santa Barbara. I do not want to drive daily to Santa Maria or Ventura for treatment, especially with fatigue, so I have sent an appeal letter to my insurance company. Laissez les bons temps roulez.

Hey, my lynx is a wolf again! I'm too insecure to ask which description my friends are disagreeing with, but personally, I don't see myself as competitive.

Note to self: still need to write about my disinterest in contemplating death, my fantasy role playing characters in Oblivion (my game), current reading, my Sony Reader (precioussss), my tainted dating persona as cancer survivor in healthy (and beautiful) SB -aka- could attracting a man get any harder than it already was? And if so, why bother to leave the house?