Meeting with My Homegirl

Monday's appointment with my regular oncologist (Dr. K) went well. Some of the highlights of our  discussion:

I should feel "normalized" in ~1 year (my energy, endurance, etc.).

Right now, the cumulative chemo has suppressed activity of any possible remaining cancer cells. Dr. K wants me to continue rebounding from the clinical trial chemo, enjoy some of the summer, have my surgery (expanders to implants), and test me 4 months after surgery. So my first X-ray scan will be towards the end of this year.

Recurrence symptoms to watch for in the future include:

• lung: coughing, shortness of breath
• liver: less appetite, low grade nausea, unexplained/unintended weight loss
• bone: focal pain (similar to bone pain) - especially in back and central areas of body

Bloodwork results from Monday indicate that my WBC, RBC, hemoglobin, hematocrit, mean platelet volume, and neutrophil levels are all still below normal range. This is kinda expected, given that I had chemo 3 weeks ago and no Neulasta shot to help boost some of those levels. These numbers are all on the way up and should continue increasing. I suspect my blood will be drawn again in late May when I have the clinical trial follow-up appointment.

Dr. K is also having a battery of additional tests performed on my blood. She's going to look at Vitamin D, calcium, and thyroid levels - to name a few.

It felt great to check in with her and ask my list 'o questions. The meeting was long and informative. So long that I nearly missed a haircut appointment (eegads!). How do you like the 'do?