POST - RADIATION NEXT STEP . . . My list for medical oncologist Part 1

Yesterday, I tried again to get an earlier appointment than February for the medical oncologist.  They told me to come in this morning.  Last night, coughing and sore throat started, bad enough so that I dreamed about it.  So I cancelled.

But I had already gone through my questions and worries lists in my computer.

My current  list includes:

Cataracts - already have one, and don't want any more.  How to avoid? Common?
Fuzzy thinking  -  how common?
Tamoxifen side effects - how to avoid
Tamoxifen vs Arimidex  The more I learn about Arimidex, the more I don't want it
Raloxifene  
To soy or not to soy   I suspect it will be Not to soy
Any hope for new drugs this year?

None of the research I've found so far says what percentage of women on Tamoxifen get cataracts or fuzzy thinking or any of the other side effects.  The only percentage I've found is that around 1% will get uterine cancer.

At this point, I've asked for my February 6 appointment to be reinstated.

I want some good news from this doctor, and I want good news for you.

LUMPECTOMY - THE SEQUEL . . . The bottom line

Yesterday, Friday, was better.  My arm is not totally better from yesterday, but today, my two favorite radiation therapists were handling the treatment.  They have both been wonderful at bringing my head back to the joys of the real world and out of the strange world of the radiation room.

When I read the NCO site slowly and stop to think, the reality hits hard.   Tamoxifen does not kill cancer, it just keeps hormones from feeding abnormal cells.  Surgery does not kill cancer; it just removes cancer cells modern medicine has found.  Radiation is the deadly weapon in my arsenal.

The rest of the fight after radiation, and from now on, will be up to me.  The personal power in my arsenal is:

Reading The Immune Power Personality, often, and acting on the findings there.

Reading  Rest In Peace.  (You know--that one about exercise.) And I'll exercise.

Reading the material on new developments.  Morning Rounds said today that women now have their final illness for five years, on average.  Not a good way to go.  I hope we're all aided soon by some better discoveries.

Asking  what pharmaceutical companies and our nation are doing that actually works.

Saying my prayers.

And I will ask the forbidden question:  wouldn't anyone rather die of a heart attack than cancer?