3 Month Oncology Check Up

 

3 month follow up with medical oncology. 

Lovely to be chatting about life and the future, instead of worrying about scans and random pains. Tumor markers remain normal, no evidence of disease. 

First visit where my MD used the word "cured" with regards to my cancer. I am not sure I'll ever sit comfortably with that: last week I took care of a patient whose breast cancer came back thirty years after initial diagnosis - my living nightmare, and the fear that lingers in my soul every day. 

That patient told me she "never really thought about it" in those intervening years - and I was overwhelmed with jealousy and awe, that a human brain could be quiet like that. My mind knows no such quiet. 

Cured. At only one year out, with 4 more of endocrine blocking meds, and 14 more of surveillance for spread, it seems premature. At the same time, she knows her shit. If she thinks I'm cured, maybe I should just run with that. 

Another happy development: the explicit mention of flat closure after mastectomy in the new 2022 National Cancer Center Network guidelines. Believe it or not, this was absent until this year and largely due to the amazing work of @notputtingonashirt and other flat-advocates, it is now listed as the first surgical option. Strong work, #flatties 

@nationalcancercenternetwork

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