Wednesday 06.30.2010 Affirmation Day

After a typical night, I got up, breakfasted, showered, got ready for my day.

I had a list of items to talk with Dr. Williams, the oncologist about, and took the notebook of my tests, results, and treatments.

When I went into the office, I signed in at the desk. It wasn't but a few minutes before Latesha called me back. Onto the scale: 162.4. Up 2.4 pounds. Don't like it, but it's better than the 4 pound increase the previous 6 months. As we went back to the exam room I asked her about the blood work. She said that we will do that after seeing the doctor. Oh, ok..

Blood Pressure, Pulse, Temperature. And the doctor will be in in a few minutes. I thanked her.

I noticed after she left the room that there was new artwork on the walls; a National Geographic map of the"Ghost Fleet of the Outer Banks", a winter farmhouse scene, a black and white photo of the Wright Brothers flying a plane, and a Wright Brothers 100 Years of Aviation poster.

I had sat back down and the doctor came in, without knocking. I said hello, you didn't knock, and gave him a look that I hoped was friendly. It just bugs me that he comes right in without knocking.

He sat down and started looking at the chart, which is a manila file folder that has about an inch of papers on each side when opened. The majority of the time, he is flipping through the papers, reading, getting an understanding of my case. He asks questions, and as I answer, he considers, looks at other lab values or tests or dates or treatments. We had a good discussion of the aromitase inhibitors as related to my side effects: joint pain, hot flashes, irregular heartbeat, and interrupted sleep. His main concern, it seemed, was the joint pain, which is really tendonitis, according to the research literature. Whatever it is, it hurts. I didn't take any tylenol/motrin this morning, and the swelling was visible on my wrist. He looked at the bone scan again, noting that there was no mention of arthritis-like changes.

He felt the pulse on the wrist and felt the irregularity, then listened with the stethoscope, and sat back.

He looked at me, and suggested we stop the Arimidex for a time.

Without going into the whole discussion, we talked about it at length. The aromitase inhibitors are now recommended for 7 1/2 years, so I'll be on something for another 5 years. And hopefully, the tendonitis will go away when the pills go away. He wants to stop the Arimidex for three weeks to see if my side effects go away.

We talked about recurrence; my thoughts are that if I had a period of time that I didn't have any treatment, and I had a recurrence, I would always wonder if it could have been prevented. And since the treatment is to prevent a recurrence, I'm not willing to take the risk. I definitely do not want surgery and chemotherapy again. Or radiation, either.

He said he understood that. There are three Aromatase Inhibitors; Arimidex, Femara, and Aromasin, that are used for breast cancer. He offered to switch to the Femara, thinking that maybe I would tolerate it differently. I agreed to trying the Femara, and I'll see him again mid-August for a follow-up appointment.

He wrote out prescriptions for the Femara, Motrin 600 mg, and Tylenol #3. The motrin is the 600 because when I took 800 mg consecutively, I had ringing in my ears, which is a side effect of too much of it. I figured I can add a 200 mg if I hurt really bad, then the next dose can be just the 600 mg. And I took the prescription for the T3 as it was offered. I just hope I don't need to use much in the way of pain meds with the Femara.

As I mentioned, we talked about 45 minutes, and he frequently looked at the different pages in the file. He said all of the scans came back good. Ahh, my Affirmation. I asked for copies of the reports--of course, he said, and made a note on the sheet that I turn in when I check out.

He walked me out to the check out window. I think he wanted to hug me--he was real close and had his hand on my shoulder--and when I turned to thank him yet again, I extended my hand to shake it. He took it, and stepped back. Then turned and went back down the hall to the next patient. Allrighty then.

At the window, Annie got the reports out of the chart and copied them, then looked at the schedule for the next appointment. We agreed on August 18 at 1145 or something. Next stop, blood draw.

The other girl, not Latesha, called me back to sit in the lab chair. The veins in the antecubital (inner elbow) weren't coming out to play, but there were a couple of nice ones in my hand. I offered her one of those, and she got the 4 tubes drawn without difficulty. I will receive a copy of those results in the mail. I thanked her and went on my way.

I had enough time at home to use the restroom, then went on to Leah's for a Reflexology appointment. She does such a nice job. She did both feet, then hands. By the time she had done both feet, then one of my hands, I was about asleep.

Time to go...

I got home and got myself something to eat. Dan got home about 9. He had a good time, and talked the whole time he unpacked. After his shower, I told him about the doctor visit, and he is in agreement with the change in medicine.

I am going to go in to work the first half of the day tomorrow, then go to a meeting, then banking, and and oil change while I'm down there.

Daniel is going to stay home and rest.

Thank you for Affirming with me. Hugs.