Check-up on July 12 2010

This is about my check-up done on July 12 2010, and is long overdue.

My bloodtest done a few days earlier showed my cancer marker (CA15-3) has gone up again. It is now 15.7, up from 14.6 on 19 April 2010.

My previous onco had decided to switch to treating colon cancer. Hmmm.... I wonder why, maybe overwhelmed by the sights of mutilated breasts.

So, I have a new onco again. He is Dr JC, who I understood had just returned from further training.

When I went in, he was going through my casefile. He was rather surprised that I am not on any conventional medications. I mentioned that my previous oncos had wanted to prescribe, but that I had turned them down as I preferred alternative and natural therapies.

When I said no to hormonal therapy, he suggested Zometa. I turned that down too and he commented that I was 'naughty', and asked what I wanted them to do for me. I shrugged and he gave me an appointment in three months.

He asked what therapies I am on. I said ayurvedic herbal brews, some other natural medicine and energy healing therapy (chakra adjustment). He did not think ayurvedic helped much, and that he would agree if it had been tcm as it has a long history. In fact, ayurvedic also has a long history. Can't blame my onco for not knowing that as he and others have been so trained and conditioned to think that conventional is the only way to go that they probably won't even look at alternative medicines.

He also commented that he is of the opinion that the conventional therapy I had was the one that got rid of my cancer, and that had I undergone conventional therapies as recommended after my mastectomy, I would not have had the relapse. He could say whatever he wanted but I was sure I did not agree with his statements. After my mastectomy, I was recommended 4 doses of chemo, plus hormonal therapy in-between, 5 weeks of radiation, 1 year herceptin and 5 years Tamoxifen. I recalled my first medical onco called it 'the whole works' as I was ER+, PR+, HER2+, stage 3 with mets to lymph nodes, and with grade 3 cancer cells.

Even then, my onco could not guarantee that I would not get a relapse, but that it would reduce my risks of a relapse. I was not assured. I am still of the opinion that if I had gone through that, I would have gone down faster and would not have been able to run around like what I am doing now.

My current onco did admit that from my casefile, he had expected to see a sickly looking patient instead of a spritely-looking one like me.