Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Another Clean Bill of Health

Once again, Dr. DaSilva finds no evidence of anything but a healthy Pam. Whew!

It's hard to describe the nervousness of this constant vigilance against recurrence. I dread these three-month appointments, a deep anxiety thrumming in my brain on the drive over, and an over-reactive relief when he finds nothing untoward.

He talked about wanting to switch me to an aromatase inhibitor after two years on tamoxifen. I will have to do some research. I know that the combination of the two in studies has shown a slight increase in survival rates over tamoxifen alone, but the side effects include more significant bone loss (some of which I already have), and bone pain. It all comes down to risks versus benefits. I told him I would like to see what my bone density exam says about my osteopenia in March before making a decision on switching. He agreed.

And that was that. Now I have three more months to forget about my oncologist, and the fact that I have one.


2 comments:

Hannah said...

Yippeeeeeee and Praise the Lord!

THIS, THAT AND EVERYTHING said...

It's really hard to describe those visits, isn't it? Once those elevator doors open and you see the water fall, it's like entering your other world - HEY - you don't think that that's Bizarro World, do you?

Sorry, it's getting late and I'm getting a little crazy.......getting?