Tuesday, August 17, 2010

My main doc weighs in

I couldn't help whining. "You said it was 99% certain that it wasn't cancer! You were wrong!"
Four months after she told me the results of my needle biopsy and made that statement, my primary care physician, Dr. F, was calling me for an update. She'd just received a copy of the pathology report from my excisional biopsy.
She listened patiently as I ran through the chronology of tests and results since we'd last spoken.
"The important thing to realize is that the cancer is gone now," she said. "There's no rush. You can take your time to select an oncologist and get treatment."
She spoke approvingly of the Oncotype DX test, whose results will determine my treatment plan. "In the olden days, everyone with breast cancer got chemotherapy. Now it's much more individualized. Our goal is to attack each cancer individually."
She was reassuring when I plaintively asked if I'd caused or exacerbated the situation by taking birth control.
"You are not to blame. The pill doesn't cause breast cancer. It might cause it to be found earlier."
I asked if I need to eat less soy, since it contains an estrogen-like substance. As a quasi-vegetarian (at least at home), I eat about 4 ounces of the stuff a day, I told her.
"That's no problem," she said.
Of course, I've dumped my birth control pills -- but that's sent me into hormonal heck, with hot flashes galore. (One will hit and I'll whip off my shirt no matter what I'm doing -- as long as I'm home. Mark is surprisingly enthusiastic about this new development.) Did she have any advice?
She's a fan of acupuncture.
She knew one of the two oncologists Dr. C referred me to -- the one who's been doing this for 30 years but perhaps is a little lacking in the bedside-manners department. She didn't put it that way, but she said: "You're going to be seeing your oncologist every three months for a very long time. It's important that you feel comfortable with her. I'd suggest you make introductory appointments before deciding."

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