Changeling in Here Be Dust

At the beginning of last week I delivered a hefty pile of papers to my GP’s office. Whenever I have a test or procedure done I put her name down to receive the results, but that often doesn’t happen. One reason why I obtain my own records (and scan them into my computer, with backups) is to let me correct whatever disconnects occur.

I slapped on a cover memo that said (with some changes made here for privacy):

Attached please find the following:

1. Mammogram report (6/8/15)
2. Dexa bone scan report (5/18/15; shows osteopenia in right hip)
3. Blood work results (4/7/14 through 8/4/15)
4. Vitals (4/7/14 through 8/4/15)
5. Patient summary for colonoscopy (2/20/15). These are patient instructions and discharge vitals, the only records I could obtain. I was told my colonoscopy was normal.
6. Record of TDaP vaccination.

I request a new blood work requisition, for the following reasons:

1. The requisition I currently have is for CBC only. My most recent CBC was done on 8/4/15, so I would like to avoid unnecessary duplication of effort/cost. However, the CBC done at [cancer center] does not include cholesterol measurements. (I believe all other measures are tested). Therefore, my cholesterol levels still need to be checked.
2. [RN] suggested that I have my Vitamin D levels checked, in light of my osteopenia finding. [Oncologist] informed me that this would be done through your office. I therefore request a Vitamin D level test as well.

Please note that my CMP has also been checked, including blood glucose. I fasted prior to blood work on May 5 (blood glucose of 82). I did not fast prior to blood work on August 4 (blood glucose of 83).

Due to [hospital’s acquisition], I now have my blood work done at [stand-alone facility].

[end of memo]

The lines in bold (they were in red on the memo, but Markdown doesn’t seem to support font color changes) were to draw my GP’s attention to the most pressing issues because I know her time is important. Her office called me later that day to set up an appointment. Normally my blood work is done before I see her, but with so much already checked I was told to come right in.

I had been in her exam room a couple of times while in active treatment, not as a patient but in my role as caregiver to my partner. I still wore my chemo cap then. The second time I had also worn an earloop mask because of my drop in immunity. In addition to protecting me from germs, the mask’s humidifying effect helped cut down on my nosebleeds from Taxol.

This time my GP remarked that my hair had grown back. We went over my various test results and I have a new blood work requisition for what my oncologist’s office doesn’t do. I received the usual physical exam and a pap smear.

It all felt weirdly ordinary, like strolling through a backyard garden after having spent the past 17 months hacking my way through a jungle. Even post-active treatment it still feels like a jungle, only because I continue to see specialists with whom I speak the exotic language of cancer. What was once mundane no longer is, especially since my cancer treatments were part of our discussion. Getting a pap smear was certainly different, what with anastrazole putting the kibosh on any estrogen production (from adrenal glands, in my case) and likely also some leftover effects from chemo.

At the same time my appointment felt like a homecoming. The last time I had seen my GP as a patient had been on March 4, 2014, the day she had given me my cancer diagnosis. That sent me on a sojourn that continues – that has returned me to my old medical stomping ground irrevocably changed.

Speaking of hair growth, mine has reached that certain length…

I finally listened to what friends have been telling me and took aspirin both before and after my weed-whacking and then again before I went to bed. As a result, my carpal tunnel flare-ups were nowhere near as severe as they had been after my previous extended yard work, and in just a couple of days my hands returned to their “new normal” exacerbated baseline. That gave me a tremendous sense of relief.

I’ve done another coloring sheet outline:

Filled in:

Large size

The full-sized outline can be downloaded and colored.