Follow up oncology appointment....a colossal waste of time.
Apologies for the monologue in advance.
So yesterday was my 18mth post chemo appointment. That's two hours of my life I won't get back. What a flipping waste of time.
I have zero raport with this man. Bearing in mind that this is the bloke who told me at the beginning that we are basically wanting hormone therapy to "castrate me"...LOL....Yes those were the words. I could write a book on the dumb shit people have said to me along the way.
Prior to now he's told me that things will get better over time. Well I think that 18 months is enough time so I went in with a list.
There are various things that I attribute to chemo and rads, the others to Tamoxifen and a couple due to surgery.
Sun & heat sensitivity is one of the big ones right now as it affects my income. I have just about had to give up teaching riding as I can only tolerate being in the sun for about an hour or so in summer. I overheat badly and that makes me nauseas and dizzy.
Apart from the fact that I love teaching, (my specialty is riding biomechanics and overcoming fear which has proved quite useful throught BC) nobody needs to lose a few hundred dollars a week. No answer for that one it should have resolved by now.
I made the mistake of saying I had been able to improve some of the Tamoxifen side effects. "Well that's good" Next subject. No interest in what had improved and what hadn't.
I asked whether or not we should be doing hormone testing or something to see where that's at. Apparently that's not useful until about the 3 year mark and gives no evidence of the eficacy of the drugs.
By this time I had zoned out and didn't bother asking anything else. The ho hum of changing to letrozole after then just buzzed in my ears. Blah blah blah...
I have come to the conclusion that once active treatment is over, you didn't die, and have completed the suggested steps the team (apart from the surgeon for followup scans etc.) has pretty much done their job. "Next please"
"See you in six months." Why, what for? So I can sit in the waiting room for an hour or more for a 10 minute appointment. From now I will go in to check the boxes, grab my script and stay in the loop just in case I need it later. They have new patients to worry about which is what they should be doing I guess.
To be fair, what can they really do? What's done is done. What am I really expecting from them anyway? There is no magic potion to reverse things just time, perseverance and never giving in to it.
I have no more tears for this thing these days so I just get annoyed. Luckily I do annoyed very well. Annoyed keeps me searching for ways to improve things and make the best decisions for myself and the quality of life I find acceptable. No less than 99% I might add. I can take care of the 1% with wine ::wink:
Steer your own boat lovelies, you are the best captain for it and nobody knows you like you.
Thanks for listening as usual. Hugs to all,
xoxoxoxoxo
So yesterday was my 18mth post chemo appointment. That's two hours of my life I won't get back. What a flipping waste of time.
I have zero raport with this man. Bearing in mind that this is the bloke who told me at the beginning that we are basically wanting hormone therapy to "castrate me"...LOL....Yes those were the words. I could write a book on the dumb shit people have said to me along the way.
Prior to now he's told me that things will get better over time. Well I think that 18 months is enough time so I went in with a list.
There are various things that I attribute to chemo and rads, the others to Tamoxifen and a couple due to surgery.
Sun & heat sensitivity is one of the big ones right now as it affects my income. I have just about had to give up teaching riding as I can only tolerate being in the sun for about an hour or so in summer. I overheat badly and that makes me nauseas and dizzy.
Apart from the fact that I love teaching, (my specialty is riding biomechanics and overcoming fear which has proved quite useful throught BC) nobody needs to lose a few hundred dollars a week. No answer for that one it should have resolved by now.
I made the mistake of saying I had been able to improve some of the Tamoxifen side effects. "Well that's good" Next subject. No interest in what had improved and what hadn't.
I asked whether or not we should be doing hormone testing or something to see where that's at. Apparently that's not useful until about the 3 year mark and gives no evidence of the eficacy of the drugs.
By this time I had zoned out and didn't bother asking anything else. The ho hum of changing to letrozole after then just buzzed in my ears. Blah blah blah...
I have come to the conclusion that once active treatment is over, you didn't die, and have completed the suggested steps the team (apart from the surgeon for followup scans etc.) has pretty much done their job. "Next please"
"See you in six months." Why, what for? So I can sit in the waiting room for an hour or more for a 10 minute appointment. From now I will go in to check the boxes, grab my script and stay in the loop just in case I need it later. They have new patients to worry about which is what they should be doing I guess.
To be fair, what can they really do? What's done is done. What am I really expecting from them anyway? There is no magic potion to reverse things just time, perseverance and never giving in to it.
I have no more tears for this thing these days so I just get annoyed. Luckily I do annoyed very well. Annoyed keeps me searching for ways to improve things and make the best decisions for myself and the quality of life I find acceptable. No less than 99% I might add. I can take care of the 1% with wine ::wink:
Steer your own boat lovelies, you are the best captain for it and nobody knows you like you.
Thanks for listening as usual. Hugs to all,
xoxoxoxoxo
