3 month oncology follow up

 

3 month follow up appointment with my medical oncologist. I’ll do this every three months for 2 years, then every 6 months for a while, then every year. Someday it might even be longer than that. 

I was in tears in the waiting room for no good reason (there was a wait, I was impatient) and I almost left without being seen. I’m glad I didn’t. 

There’s a plan, a follow up trajectory, an understanding of the utility of labs and imaging in my near and far future. 

Living with a fear of recurrence is my burden now, but at least I feel cared for and monitored. Labs every 6 months, CT chest/abd/pelvis every 6-12 months (to follow some liver lesions that are likely nothing), DEXA scan every year. 

I’m terrified of stress fractures from osteoporosis, but I keep running. I’m paranoid about seizures from brain metastases, but I keep swimming. I just can’t let breast cancer take anything else away from me. So I go about my business, trying to shut those scenarios out, and telling breast cancer “You might win someday, but today is not that day.” 

Stay tuned for scanxiety and lab-anxiety days ahead. Thankful for a medical oncologist that listens to me and watches over me like a mother hen. 

#fuckbreastcancer #lobularbreastcancer#doublemastectomywithoutreconstruction#surgicalmenopause #breastcancersurvivor#breastcancerfighter #doctorsarepatientstoo#doctorwithcancer