Wednesday, April 25, 2007

6 week Rad Onc checkup

It's been about 6 weeks since my radiation was completed and today I had my first rad onc checkup. Not a big deal really, how do I feel (fine), any pain, any this, any that, (no, no and no) a pelvic exam (the usual scar tissue, otherwise normal), handshakes and out the door with an appt. for 3 months from now. I told him that my med onc didn't want to do chemo either (concurring with the Fox Chase med onc) and he said, well, it was such an isolated little thing (glad he thinks so). We also discussed getting a scan. Originally we had talked about having a scan at 3 months post rad, today he was thinking we might want to wait a few more months so that the rad has had the most amount of time to have done it's job. I see my gyn onc in about a month so he told me that he'd talk to him and see what he thought. He also wanted to talk to him about whether I should have a PET scan. That would make the most sense to me since that is what diagnosed this recurrence (confirmed by the ct-guided biopsy) and the tumor was barely visible on the ct. He was concerned about whether the insurance company would approve it, a common problem these days with insurance companies and PET scans (he made some comment about what we were doing being revolutionary, not sure what he meant by that exactly but he was on his way out the door when he said it so I didn't ask). In fact at the moment we are going back and forth with the insurance company for my December PET scan as they have paid for everything involving the PET scan except for the radiologist who read it (and of course we keep getting bills from him). Makes no sense, but supposedly the various drs. offices are working on it. So, we'll see how it all plays out. I don't really mind the wait in a way, it just puts off the anxiety that I know I am going to feel when I have the scan and am waiting those few days for the results. Actually anxiety is putting it mildly, I think sheer terror is more like it. Right now I'll just go back to my happy place of denial.

1 comment:

Cindy D. said...

denial can be a good place. I hope the insurance won't give you grief about having another PET since that sounds like it will give you the most peace of mind and the most diagnostics in being able to tell that all is fine inside you again. {{{hugs}}}