It has been five months since I finished chemo and thus, time for a follow-up visit with the oncologist. Fortunately, I like the man even though I hate the protocol he prescribed. I gave him my list of complaints/concerns. He said the tiredness was a common complaint. Since in his estimation, I had virtually no side-effects, the achiness puzzled him. I reminded him that chemo was cumulative. However, my reminder went unnoticed. He seemed determined to exonerate the chemo and find some other cause. So, he then asked me if my supplements could be producing the symptoms. I could not believe he even suggested such a thing and responded by saying, "Are you kidding? Give me a break!" He tried to suggest the vitamins instead of the chemo or steroids were the culprit one more time. To this I replied, "Do you want me to quote you statistics?" (I was referring to the World Health Organization’s statistics regarding the number of deaths due to properly prescribed medications.) At this point, he surrendered the battle by saying with a smile, "I just thought I would ask."
We also had a "lively" discussion concerning mammograms as a means of monitoring my health. Discovering the tumor on my own only ten months after a mammogram has left me feeling they are almost useless for cancer-screening. Hence, my use of the word "lively" in describing the conversation. The doctor agreed that mammograms are insufficient at times. He then explained that preventive care should be a three-pronged approach of self and physician exams combined with mammography. At the end of the appointment, he wrote a script for the blood tests the naturopath had requested. I trust the results will show her the next step in my recovery.
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