Wednesday 10.8.2008 Doctor Day

I slept good the first part of the night, the morning was the same hour-intervals of wake/hot/doze. Dan got up about 8 maybe; I got up about 9, had breakfast, showered.

I had a lot of email to read, so I got started on that while waiting to leave for the doctor appointment. Ok, time to go.

We got there, parked, and went into the building. Walking up the sidewalk, I recognized a little anxiety. I took a breath and imagined all of you readers and everyone else who prayed for me and with me to get me through this cancer treatment stuff. Into the building, a few more steps, and we're in the hallway standing in front of the door to Dr. Bolmer's office. I stopped and breathed again, remembering standing in the circle holding hands and the energies surrounding me. I smiled, and with confidence, opened the door and went in. Thanks for being there with me.

I went to the window and signed in, then went to sit beside Daniel. We small talked, chit-chatted, waited our turn. Maybe 1o minutes later one of the girls without a name badge called my name.

We rose and walked over to where she was standing, and stopped at the scale. #145.6 Cool. (Looking back in the notebook, the last visit was June 4, and #146) Stable. We went into exam room 9. We've been here before. I had to laugh at myself--I walked around the room looking at the walls to see if there was anything different. There was!! A yellow paper posted on the door of the cabinet over the sink saying It's flu season--we have vaccine--ask doctor to schedule your flu shot. I sat in the chair Ms. Nameless indicated. Blood pressure 103/61 pulse 73 temp 97.5. She opens the folder which is my chart, records these numbers, and goes down the list of medications. Yes, yes, no, .....she asks me if I had asked for a copy of my labs? No, I hadn't, but could I have a copy? Yes, she says, it's right here, and hands it to me. Cool. Thanks. She says doctor will be in soon, and leaves. I thank her again.

Dan and I look at each other, he starts fiddling with his phone again, and I scrutinize the lab results. Hemoglobin 13.4. (excellent) Hematocrit 37.9 (excellent) All other blood chemistries excellent. The hormone levels are something I'm not real familiar with: Estradiol <25, LH (leutenizing hormone) 40.9, FSH (follicle stimulating hormone) 53.5. I'm sure doctor will go over that with us. I wrote the weight and blood pressure in my notebook, got my list of topics ready, and reviewed my notebook in case she asked me something I wasn't quite sure of.

Dr. Bolmer came in about 5 minutes later, and first thing, she asked how were the hot flashes?

I told her they were still annoying, and she said that they are a result of the rapid decrease of estrogen due to the chemotherapy and tamoxifen. She said that unfortunately there's not much do to about them, drugs don't work well, and that they will eventually decrease in time. She went on to tell about her own hot flashes and how they interrupt her day. I asked if I could try the 37.5 mg of Effexor again--she wrote a prescription for that for 7 days, and another prescription for 30 days and refills, if it works. Doctor looked at the labs, commenting that my body tolerated the chemo well, that the hormone levels reflect that the chemotherapy and tamoxifen are doing what they are supposed to be doing. We talked about vitamins and supplements--continue taking the Vitamins E and B6 and calcium, as well as "whatever else you're using. You look really well." Thanks.

I told her about the cognition and spatial concerns--I lose words, get off task, forget to do things, reading speed has decreased and have to concentrate on comprehending; and my depth perception seems to have changed, as well as not being able to turn my head fast and have my eyes keep up. She said that the sudden decrease of estrogen levels will make those types of changes more noticeable than when "natural menopause" occurs. That when the estrogen levels decrease gradually, the adaptive or compensatory behaviors are something we don't notice as much. Then she started talking about making lists, using reminders, repetition, and that the cognitive changes happen anyway as we age and the estrogen levels decrease. She said that chemotherapy and taxotere may also cause cataracts to grow more quickly--when do you have an eye appointment?? Soon, I replied.

She asked about vaginal dryness, as chemotherapy and taxotere can affect that, too. Then she said she was having a hot flash, she was going to go out in the hall, and I can change into a gown while she's gone. Ok.

I put the gown on, she comes back in a few minutes later. She listened to my lungs and my heart, did kind of a breast exam on the right/non-affected breast, and checked the left one, commenting on the fluid, looking at my arms and hands, asking about Ike and what she does for me. She declares me "good".

I am to see her again in 3 months, have the mammogram in November, as well as the general physical and pap smear, and have an eye exam. As she was writing all this in the chart, I put my clothes back on. I have the new prescriptions, and any others that need refilled can be done by calling the "refill line" there at the office. Ok, thank you. I shake her hand and she leaves.

I was surprised that Dan didn't say much during this visit, just was there. I guess we covered what he wanted to know...

We got outside, I breathed again, and thanked God for His gifts. The sun was trying to break through the clouds.

At home, I had something to eat and looked at emails again. After a bit my eyes got droopy, so we declared it was naptime.

We had a nice rest, got up, decided it was time for supper. I threw out a couple of ideas, he suggested Bob Evans. Ok...

So out we went. Yum. We stopped at Meijer for a couple things we missed the other day, and came back home. While we were settling in, we heard a high pitched alarm-sounding noise--what was that??

We looked around the house and found that the security alarm was showing that it went to battery. Huh? Looking more, none of the bedrooms have power. But the bathroom light switches do. And the rest of the house works, too. He checked the GFI in the bathroom, that was good, then went to the fuse box. There are two switches that are tripped and don't reset. Great. The electrical company has their sticker conveniently affixed to the fuse panel door. That's a phone call for the morning....

And it's bedtime. Tomorrow I see Ike at 11:00, then I may have to work in the afternoon, as I signed up extra on-call. We'll see.

Again, I thank you all for reading, for travelling with me through the breast cancer planet and back to wellness on planet earth. We did it.

Hugs.