Yeah, he said that. He had to!
I talked to Daniel and he agrees with me. Switching would be silly at this point. I'm signed up for the study and I'm all set with the geneticist. It's closer.
"But you know, it's basically a teaching hospital, almost like public... You know, interns..."
He kind of laughed at the bone scan story and was relieved when Dr. S. said no. "So she at least called?" Um, I kind of at least asked.
Exam time. I again said how happy I was with the results. I don't mind telling him again. A gushing happy customer! I am a little pointed in the wrong direction but you really have to look... and very few get to look there anyway! It might settle down more but he said, this is the end result. He's happy with the scar. To me, it still looks ugly but I don't care since it's so well place to be hidden under a swimsuit or bra. The stitches that the intern made a big deal about will fall out, he assured me. It kind of hurts when he prodded it. My being ticklish doesn't help.
He then pulls up his handy little ultrasound machine and looks around underneath. He finds a pocket of water (not unlike my many cysts) and then takes out this mother of a needle... Not another needle, pleads the pin cushion. And it won't be the last, he says, not very reassuringly.
It didn't hurt but I could definitely feel it. He had to move it around-yuk! But not horrible. Oh get this over with! He was getting a little frustrated. Can you even find it?? Oh, it'll absorb back in. Yes it will. Now get that thing outta me! No, I didn't say that. I was good.
He couldn't believe my family is facing this twice, less than three weeks apart, and there is not even a genetic link between us. He mentioned how his patients all react differently and that those of us who do have some kind of heads-up (either physical or family history), usually are a bit more open about it. In my case, I had three, light risk factors. He reminded me that there are plenty of women running around with all those cysts and dense breasts who will never get BC. They will have to be monitored more closely.
He quoted the statistics on genetics and I said to him "But that's BRCA". Yes, he knows. What I wanted to know was how many do they know there's a genetic component, but they haven't found the gene yet. That means, a heavy family history but for BRCA, the one gene they have found, is not it. They test negative. I know a family like that. He couldn't tell me. He also talked about the fact that there might be other genetic factors, not necessarily one gene but combinations. I know what he's talking about because of my hip displacement. Dr. W, the pediatric orthopedist who treated the two of mine who had this, said ages ago, said it might be several genes that combine, not just one, with my family and why the hip displacements skip generations. But I didn't mention this because once I get talking about genetics, I won't stop and at some point, you have to shut me up.
No, just wait till the 16th, he declared. But that's almost 4 1/2 weeks and John Hopkins (I asked them) said 3-4. He rolled his eyes and mumbled this business about how I was driving myself crazy. I hate waiting. A few days won't make a difference. Ugh. Okay, intern wins. Grrr.
I forgot to mention that the nurse called. I haven't really used "my" assigned nurse much. I started complaining about Strauss and then she stops me.
"So what were your results? You don't have to do chemo??"
Oops! Sorry you were left out of the loop! I told her clear margins and lymph nodes. Skip chemo and go straight to radiation. Good.
She doesn't "know" Strauss. Ugh. Her too. Yeah, I know. Stupid me not going to Sainte Anne...
I talked to Daniel and he agrees with me. Switching would be silly at this point. I'm signed up for the study and I'm all set with the geneticist. It's closer.
"But you know, it's basically a teaching hospital, almost like public... You know, interns..."
He kind of laughed at the bone scan story and was relieved when Dr. S. said no. "So she at least called?" Um, I kind of at least asked.
Exam time. I again said how happy I was with the results. I don't mind telling him again. A gushing happy customer! I am a little pointed in the wrong direction but you really have to look... and very few get to look there anyway! It might settle down more but he said, this is the end result. He's happy with the scar. To me, it still looks ugly but I don't care since it's so well place to be hidden under a swimsuit or bra. The stitches that the intern made a big deal about will fall out, he assured me. It kind of hurts when he prodded it. My being ticklish doesn't help.
He then pulls up his handy little ultrasound machine and looks around underneath. He finds a pocket of water (not unlike my many cysts) and then takes out this mother of a needle... Not another needle, pleads the pin cushion. And it won't be the last, he says, not very reassuringly.
It didn't hurt but I could definitely feel it. He had to move it around-yuk! But not horrible. Oh get this over with! He was getting a little frustrated. Can you even find it?? Oh, it'll absorb back in. Yes it will. Now get that thing outta me! No, I didn't say that. I was good.
He couldn't believe my family is facing this twice, less than three weeks apart, and there is not even a genetic link between us. He mentioned how his patients all react differently and that those of us who do have some kind of heads-up (either physical or family history), usually are a bit more open about it. In my case, I had three, light risk factors. He reminded me that there are plenty of women running around with all those cysts and dense breasts who will never get BC. They will have to be monitored more closely.
He quoted the statistics on genetics and I said to him "But that's BRCA". Yes, he knows. What I wanted to know was how many do they know there's a genetic component, but they haven't found the gene yet. That means, a heavy family history but for BRCA, the one gene they have found, is not it. They test negative. I know a family like that. He couldn't tell me. He also talked about the fact that there might be other genetic factors, not necessarily one gene but combinations. I know what he's talking about because of my hip displacement. Dr. W, the pediatric orthopedist who treated the two of mine who had this, said ages ago, said it might be several genes that combine, not just one, with my family and why the hip displacements skip generations. But I didn't mention this because once I get talking about genetics, I won't stop and at some point, you have to shut me up.
No, just wait till the 16th, he declared. But that's almost 4 1/2 weeks and John Hopkins (I asked them) said 3-4. He rolled his eyes and mumbled this business about how I was driving myself crazy. I hate waiting. A few days won't make a difference. Ugh. Okay, intern wins. Grrr.
I forgot to mention that the nurse called. I haven't really used "my" assigned nurse much. I started complaining about Strauss and then she stops me.
"So what were your results? You don't have to do chemo??"
Oops! Sorry you were left out of the loop! I told her clear margins and lymph nodes. Skip chemo and go straight to radiation. Good.
She doesn't "know" Strauss. Ugh. Her too. Yeah, I know. Stupid me not going to Sainte Anne...
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