Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Three-month visit to medical oncologist . . . any answers?

Tomorrow I will hear the results of my blood work.  I want to know if I've been tested for metabolizing Tamoxifen to endoxifen or if I will be.  Questions like that probably give doctors a headache.  And what about the thyroid test I suggested--was low thyroid responsible for how terribly cold I got last winter?

So many symptoms and so few as to which are old age and arthritis, and which are Tamoxifen.  I've had mysterious pains that went away after a few days. The  most severe felt like being stabbed in my left shoulder, and I regret agreeing to an X-ray for that pain. It never happened again, though my shoulders do ache at times.

Muscle pain or nerve pain:  My right forearm was hurt closing a car door two years ago, and that same sharp pain along the forearm came back for a couple of days recently - then stopped.

A much younger friend of mine who takes Arimidex has a couple of symptoms very similar to mine - the foot pains with arthritis symptoms, and the waves of scary fatigue are so similar to hers - but hers seem to be worse.  In fact her symptoms over the past year make me more scared of Arimidex.

This is all summed up by what I know some other women say:  the worry is not knowing if a problem is Tamoxifen or something else.

He put me on a three-month visit schedule as soon as I mentioned depression, and that's one of the problems that may just be from my situation - the fact that time's passing and I haven't found work in this area?  Or the fact that I have so many doctors and so many health problems unsolved?

Bottom line:  I like this doctor and he's more patient than his schedule probably tells him to be.

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