TAMOXIFEN - 30 day checkup

I had plenty of questions for the medical oncologist yesterday.  He is a kind, cordial person, and dealt with all of them without letting me get sidetracked.

Sitting in his waiting room among people who are in a lot of pain and fear is a great place to learn how fortunate I am that Tamoxifen is my only connection now to the CVIS I had.  The doctor reminded me that we all complain.  He doesn't mind when I do.

First, the soy in cough drops and in my antacid.  He said soy is everywhere; even if you drink a Coke, it has soy.  I reminded him that he'd told me:  If it says soy, run.  He said that they do that on purpose, so we'll be sure to avoid it  and be aware of it.  He reminded me that if we go to an Asian person's for dinner, we can't refuse to eat their food.  Just summed up:  don't deliberately choose a soy dish; just avoid it if you can.

I admit that month of being scared of soy certainly did make me aware of choices and labels.  But now I wish I'd eaten those chips at  the hospital luncheon/lecture the day before. 

He asked if any of my medical concerns were the result of this pill I'm taking.  I said it was probably all a matter of degree--making things seem a little worse.  

We talked about depression, and moments of severe fatigue and feeling almost faint for a minute.  In short, I said the mornings were sometimes tough.  He said we should take both of these seriously. I told him I'm drinking the forbidden decaf (forbidden for another medical condition) in the morning now because it is "the poor man's anti-depressant" and because that warm cup in the morning had been a lifetime comfort routine for me.  He said we all need some comfort routines. 

I mentioned that I hadn't been able to lose weight, and he said these preventive pills can cause water retention like some women experienced earlier in connection with their menstrual cycle.

Then I also asked about a thyroid test, which I haven't had for years.  He put me on an every-three-month checkup basis and said I had to have blood work before the next appointment.  

He couldn't think of a really good OB-Gyn except one who is booked many months ahead.

It was a completely happy, friendly appointment.  I left feeling better.