VA Referral Issue

 

I spoke with the Community Care office yesterday morning. They are the ones who handle referrals to non-VA providers. My oncology referral expires August 15. The lady said they are currently working on requests from 6/8 and my request from my oncologist was sent on 6/25. She said she is not sure if my request will be processed by my first appointment in August which will be August 19.

Please pray that my referral will go through in time. If I have to postpone my treatments it will run too close to my surgery date of September 16. Currently my last injection is scheduled for September 11. Thank you!

Saw my PCP today…

I saw my primary care provider this morning and she answered a bunch of questions for me. Apparently I am pre-diabetic. My A1C came back just over the limit for normal. So, I have to start eating differently. Probably back to lazy keto for me.

She’s going to prescribe a chewable calcium since the tablets keep getting caught at the back of my throat. I have to take calcium (and Vitamin D) because I have osteopenia.

She’s also going to write a referral for massage, now that the VA covers that. Hopefully some regular massage will cut down on the number of headaches I get.

She also set me up to see her more often until I finish my cancer treatments, just to keep up with any issues that arise. 

Hair now

 

Just thought I’d post an updated pic of my hair growth. Yes, it is growing back in, grayer than ever, but I’m just happy to have it back. Although I would have loved some curls (just kidding, any hair is good hair).

Hormone Suppressant Medication Update

We just left the oncologist’s office. She is going to put me on another hormone suppression medication. This one is called Letrozole and is related to the Anastrozole that I was on first. Each of these meds affect people in different ways so we are hoping I won’t have the speech difficulties on this one. She did say, that since the chemo completely got rid of the cancer, she’s not real concerned about keeping me on a hormone suppressant med. She said that it comes down to a question of the benefit of the medication versus my quality of life. I will start the med tonight or tomorrow morning.

Hoping the third time’s the charm! Oh, and one month’s worth from Walmart was $228 until I asked them to run it through GoodRx. Then it was $17.

One Year Anniversary

 

One year ago today I got the results of my recent breast biopsy. We had just gotten back from a trip to Kansas to see my son, his family, and the brand new baby girl, grandchild #13.

I remember it like it was yesterday.

It was a Monday morning, 8:00 a.m. I was on the phone with my mom, then my primary care provider from the VA called with the news. It was invasive ductal carcinoma. I remember waking up my husband Kenn to tell him the news. I don’t remember much else about that day. I went to work and saw clients.

My PCP told me I could see the breast surgeon at the VA on Thursday of that week. The breast surgeon told us the stage of the cancer and let us know all the options we had. I could get treatment at the VA in Denver or here in Colorado Springs I chose Colorado Springs and I’m glad I did. I have had to have so many tests and treatments, I could never have done it in Denver and still worked.

It’s hard to believe it’s been a year already. This last year has flown by. Hopefully this next year will continue to bring healing in every way.

Still having issues…

 

I started a new medication on the 9th and by the 16th the speech difficulties came back. So, the oncologist told me to stop the new medication and see her next week. My appointment is on Wednesday.

I spoke with neurology today and the neurologist said if I get any new symptoms to head straight to the ER. She’s confident it’s medication related, not anything more. While talking with her, I had the same speech difficulties that I had on the video visit on Tuesday that prompted the call to the oncologist and neurology. The neurologist also said to have a low threshold for heading to the ER if I get any new symptoms.

I’ve noticed that the speech difficulties come back if I’m at all anxious about the conversation I’m having.

It’s all very weird but just another part of this cancer journey.

Time for an update

 

There seems to be less and less to update about these days. However, on June 28 I experienced an episode of severe speech difficulty. I was talking to our office manager at work and my tongue and lips just didn’t want to cooperate with my brain. I wrote it off as sleep deprivation because I had only gotten 4 hours sleep. It continued through the first half of Saturday then tapered off.

I sent a message to my oncologist’s office to see if it could be a side effect of the Anastrozole (hormone suppression medication). I heard back Monday and they got me in Tuesday afternoon. My oncologist directed me to stop taking it for a week and update her at that time.

So I stopped the medicine that Tuesday night and Wednesday experienced it again so I went to the ER as directed. They did a head CT, but we’re unable to do an MRI because my tissue expanders have metallic components. After talking to my oncologist and a neurologist the ER doctor agreed with stopping the Anastrozole for a week but also started my on low dose aspirin in case I had had a mini stroke, or TIA.

Yesterday I got a new hormone suppression pill, Exemestane. I’ll take it at night and am praying I don’t get any bad or weird side effects. This past week+ has been stressful for sure.

Another update I forgot to mention that my oncologist wrote me a prescription for Ativan for sleep. It’s only short term because it can be habit forming. I’ve been on it for a week now and I’m definitely getting more sleep. I still feel sleepy from time to time but not exhausted like I was.

My community care appointment for the insomnia is with a pulmonologist and they couldn’t get me in until July 31!! Not sure how much longer after that I’ll have to wait for a sleep study. We shall see…..