Eyeballs to Cooch

Sorry for the absence. I'm still here. It's summer vacation so I'm enjoying time with my family.

I've also been going to a lot of Dr.'s appointments but thankfully they are much better appointments than this time last year. In fact, one year ago today I was having my surgery to remove the offending lymph node that would lead to my diagnosis. I was panicked, terrified that they were going to put me to sleep and I'd never wake up.

But here I am.

So anyway, in the past two weeks I've seen a plastic surgeon, a dentist, two oncologist, an optometrist and my family doctor.

You've heard the story of the plastic surgeon already...I'll update that in a minute.

I'm getting a crown put on the tooth that kept cracking while I was getting chemo and could only get a temporary fill.

I saw my medical oncologist when I went for herceptin on Thursday. I casually mentioned that the results to my mammogram had been faxed to him (I'd still not hear about them) and he said to head upstairs to his office to get a copy of the report, he couldn't remember reading it but had no concerns. I love that about him. None of this 'wait until I read it and make an appointment' it's all 'this is your health record, why would I make you wait for it?' So I went to his office and got my report and it read that there was no evidence of malignancy left in my right leftover area and no change in the right breast area. Can I get an AMEN!

Later that day I saw my family Dr for a physical. I got checked head to toe and everything in between (ahem, no one like their 'lady tests' but it's even more awkward when you think your Dr is pretty easy on the eyes) Anyhow, I mentioned the plastic surgeon I'd seen and that I'd like a referral to someone else. He knew right away who I was talking about and while he agreed she does great work he also said her personality was 'different' and you had to catch her on the right day. So he gave me a blank referral and said I could research and find a plastic surgeon and if they needed anything else to give him a call. Excellent! If you're a local reader and you've got a tip on a good plastic surgeon, email me, I'd love to hear about him/her.

Then off to the radiation oncologist. He went through my mammogram results and didn't seem worried. He checked the rash on my chest/neck area. I've got a dry itchy patch, my family Dr gave me a cortisone cream for it but I've scratched one part so hard that it actually scarred and he wanted to make sure it wasn't a skin cancer. He said it didn't look like cancer and frankly, I wasn't concerned that it was, I know I scratched too hard and that skin is already damaged from radiation.

So, I see him now every 6 months. I love that I see two oncologists every 6 months. It just give me that extra sense of security because it actually means I'm seeing one of them them approximately every 3 months. I'm okay with that.

And finally, I decided I'd like to get contacts. I've worn glasses full time since I was about 18 and while I don't hate them, I'm feeling a little more vain since the removal of the boob and loss of hair. My eyes have always been my best feature. I have amazing eyes, you just can't see them behind my glasses. I did wear contacts for a year or so, around the time Sean and I were dating/got married. The thing is, because I have severe astigmatism they were hard lenses. If you've ever worn hard lenses you know they are insanely uncomfortable. And I had two terrible experiences with them - once one broke in half seconds before I was about to put it in my eye and the second one was when it got stuck in my eye on my wedding night and I was sure I'd end up in the hospital trying to get it out.

Anyhow, my new eye Dr explained to me why I'm still not a good candidate for regular, disposable or soft lenses and that if I want contacts I'm again stuck with the hard ones. NOT INTERESTED THANKS! So, I'm sticking with glasses. Shit. The good news is my eyes haven't changed in 3 years so I didn't have to get new glasses.

So now I've been thoroughly examined from eyeballs to cooch. It's safe to say I'm in good health and can continue on with my summer.

I'll be unplugged for a week while we go on vacation so I'll catch you on the flip side. In the meantime I'm struggling with #9 of my 30 Things. Have 10 people influenced me? I'm not easily influenced.