This week is quite the week.  I meet with ALL the Doctors! (AND PT) Of course the song You Wanna Piece of Me runs through my head. But I’ve been noticing I am doing pretty good keeping up with the latest trend in everything. Seems all the cool kids are doing the breast cancer thing..so of course I have to be in on that.

So first up. Appointment with Dr. Evil. Also known as the surgeon. I just call him that because he put me in the most pain through all this. But he’s also the one that removed Cruella so I can’t really not like him…it’s all said with love.  So went into see him and he told me to get out of his office for 6 months.  So I’ve been released 100% (no more seromas….at least not enough to worry about).  I do have to see him every 6 months for the next 5 years to check the chest wall and lymph nodes. Good times.

Next up. Medical Oncologist. Overall things are good.  I wasn’t supposed to have blood work done today but we ended up doing some due to some issues that came up. Looks like my DEXA test came up that I have Osteopenia. I have never heard of this before. But it seems that it’s the step right before Osteoporosis. Most likely caused from the steroids during chemo and the Lupron. Not sure if I will be put on any type of meds to combat this but for now we add some calcium rich foods, supplements, Vitamin D and exercise.  On it. I don’t know how trendy this is yet…but now that I’m doing it I’m sure it will be more popular in the upcoming years.

“Osteopenia refers to bone density that is lower than normal peak density but not low enough to be classified as osteoporosis. Bone density is a measurement of how dense and strong the bones are. If your bone density is low compared to normal peak density, you are said to have osteopenia. Having osteopenia means there is a greater risk that, as time passes, you may develop bone density that is very low compared to normal, known as osteoporosis.” …WebMD

Okay fantastic. So then I go back on October 17th for my Lupron shot. Yay…keep those nasty hormones shut off.  I also got told that I’ll be starting Arimidex towards the end of radiation therapy…so beginning of November.  This is an alternative to Tamoxifen. Just another medication to keep the hormones shut down.  We REALLY REALLY need to shut of my hormones…this will help prevent any cancer (of the breast kind) from returning. We will see. Again…cool kids get Lupron and either Tamoxifen or Arimidex. Because Arimidex is newer…obviously way cooler.  I get to do this for 5 years. (see a trend?)

Then I went to Physical Therapy. Good news my range is getting better. Bad news, got fitted for the lymphedema sleeve today. I’m going back tomorrow for another session and get the information to order my sleeve. It’s minor so hopefully we can keep it minor.  She has me doing the regular stretching exercises but also the massage to keep my lymphatic system moving. So for years I would exercise and especially when I walked for a long time or hiked my hands would swell up. Seems my lymphatic system hasn’t been functioning very well before all this happened.  So when they removed some of the lymph nodes it just put more strain on an already sucky system. What are ya going to do. I will even get a gauntlet…how cool does that sound?  Hey this seems to be a life thing…so how lucky is that?

Let me just say…the fashion statement of the Fall is the compression sleeve…I mean Serena Williams is doing it…and who doesn’t want to be like Serena?