List of cancer worries yields good news

Filed under: Cancer Survivors

Yesterday, I saw my oncologist for one of my every-three-month follow-up visits. As always, I went armed with my list of questions -- which is really my list of worries -- and one by one, I rattled them off. On a little sticky note, I had written:

• Lymph node
  
• Digital mammogram
  
• Next MRI
  
• Heart
  
• Colonoscopy

And this is what my doctor had to say about my concerns of the day:

• The occasionally-swollen lymph node on the right side of my neck is nothing to worry about. It wasn't even palpable today. When it is, it's normal. He promises.

• It's time for my next digital mammogram and ultrasound too. I will be contacted soon with my appointment.

• After consulting with another oncologist, it was determined I will continue receiving breast MRI scans. Not always are they recommended for women who have already had breast cancer. But for me, with my "enhanced" and very dense breast tissue, they are in order.

• If I feel no symptoms, my heart is fine -- despite the fact that in total, I have received the heart-compromising chemotherapy drug Adriamycin, the heart-toxic drug Herceptin, and left-side breast radiation. My doctor and his team tend to screen for symptoms. This means they will follow up on any suspicious symptoms I report. They don't needlessly screen for problems that may never present themselves -- which brings me to the colonoscopy.

• Some breast cancer patients I know receive colonoscopy screening. I wondered if I should too. Nope, said my doctor, who told me if I had tested positive for a BRCA gene mutation (I didn't) or had a strong family history of colon cancer, I would be a candidate for this screening but otherwise, I don't need this test until I am 50, or I have symptoms that warrant it.
  

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[Source: The Cancer Blog]