Friday, October 9, 2015

Day 247 - Hair

*How is it possible that I am on day 247 and don't have a post entitled "Hair" until today?

I saw my medical oncologist for the first time since July today.  It was very nice to see him, and we spent the majority of the appointment talking about TNBC treatments that are in trials right now.  He actually started the conversation with "what new studies have you been seeing?"  That kind of cracks me up, and it shows that he knows how I operate.  He knows that I am up on research.  Research moves slowly, but it is moving.  We spent a decent amount of time talking about immunotheraphy. Some immunotherapy drugs have been approved for some of the most aggressive cancers - melanoma and small cell lung cancer, to name a few.  I think that the approval of some of these medicines to treat TNBC is just a matter of time.

I also talked to him and his medical assistant about some anxiety that I've been having.  I cannot tell a lie - they offered some medication to help with that, and I accepted.  They actually offered two medications.  I'll take one of the medications regularly for a month or two and see how I feel, and I have another one that I can take if I am feeling particularly anxious at any given time.  The regular medication should also help with hot flashes which is a major bonus.  It is my overall goal to be on fewer medications than more over time, but I am going to unapologetically take some help right now. I need it.

The reason that I titled this post "hair" is because my oncologist said that I have the best hair re-growth that he's ever seen. He's seen a lot of bald people in his 15-years of medicine so I take this as a high compliment.  I felt that it would be unfair to post such a claim without a photo so here's a picture taken in my office right before I shut things down for the week. I've got some serious hair for someone who was bald just a few months ago.



My oncologists' waiting room was packed today. Packed.  I am actually not sure that I have ever seen it so crowded.  I walked over to say hi to the infusion room receptionist  while I was waiting to see the doctor, and there was a sign that said "due to a high number of infusions, please expect delays." None of my 8 infusions ever started on time or even close to on time so I cannot imagine the delays that people experienced today given the sign. It was hard to be in the waiting room.  There was more sadness than hope today. I could feel it.

On the opposite side of the coin, a friend of mine had her last chemo today so I went to say hi to her during her treatment to help her celebrate.  It was fun to see her and to cheer for her last chemo.  Last chemo = really big deal!


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