June 18, 2011
June 17, 2011
PET, Dr. Appointment and 2nd Avastin Tx
I had another PET scan today- the second sunny Friday that I spent in the clinic. It took about 2 hours and was fine except yet again I was extremely hungry. I was actually bad this time and had two Chex squares in the car on the way there. And then I licked the salt off some more :) When I got to the clinic I started to get really worried that I screwed up the test, which would be really unfortunately considering I fasted 12 hrs for 2 damn pieces of Chex Mix (but very satisfying). They check your blood sugar before injecting the solution and fortunately I was fine. I then sat in the office room with the lights out and instructions to relax and NOT use my cell phone. I was able to listen to a little Pandora though- (FYI Ratatat Radio has some good pre-PET tunes). After that I went through the scanner for about 30 minutes with my arms raised above my head. My arms fell asleep and of course everything on my face started getting extremely itchy. Frustrating...
After that I got home and ate tons of carbs and sugar. One day of PET prep is hell. We had a staff meeting with pizza and I couldn't eat the crust. I sat and listened and secretly picked off all the cheese and ate it with no one noticing.
Last Friday (sunny day #1), I had my second Avastin treatment and an appointment with Dr. Rivkin. Yet again I was reminded of his awesomeness. When I walked in the first thing he asked me was about my job search. I told him that I still had no luck and that I was worried about losing my knowledge. I also mentioned that I was looking to shadow a doctor or another NP. As I was finishing that sentence he got on the phone and starting calling some NP colleagues! He tracked down one NP who worked in oncology who would be willing to let me shadow. I also get to shadow the NP in his clinic once a week! I still have to finalize details, but I'm really excited! I would absolutely love to work in oncology, and I think I would be pretty good at it :)
As far as the rest of the appointment, I gave him my "list of questions" and he went answered each one in order. ( I recommend that every patient with a chronic illness keep a list- it ensures that you get all of your questions answered, helps the provider, and improves the efficiency and flow of the appointment.)
1.) Blurry vision: He said that my dose of Tamoxifen was pretty low to have this symptom, but he agreed with my to make an appointment with an opthalmologist to get a baseline. Unfortunately I have to go through my primary care provider who I haven't seen in over a year. I now made an appointment to see her next week
2.) Avastin first treatment: I told him it went fine- no side effects. I mentioned how my blood pressure had gone up on too occasions, but when the nurse checked it in the office it was back to its low value. No worries there
3.) CT Scan: Normal. Nothing at all. However, I was due for the PET since it had been over 3 months. I couldn't schedule it at the time because of the lengthy approval process. Getting it within 1 week was surprising because it usually takes around 3. Even though I have financial assistance through Swedish, everything still has to go through my insurance company. However they approved it again :)
4.) Avastin treatments: Scheduled for every 3 weeks. Now they should only be a 30 second infusion, although it always takes an extra hour. Good thing I don't have a day job! I don't know what is going on in the pharmacy but they seem to be the cause of the wait. Maybe it actually takes 30 minutes to mix Avastin?
5.) Weight. 121. I guess I'll be wearing a lot of skirts, because that's the only clothing that seems to fit the best. Unfortunately I live in Seattle and it's Junuary so I'm gonna be cold. But I guess other clothes don't matter that much, considering I wear athletic pants and the same T-shirt 4 times a week.
That's all for now- tomorrow I'm getting up at 7am to strip down to my birthday suit, paint myself, and parade the streets of Fremont (which is conveniently my new neighborhood). Yes, it's time to celebrate the Summer Solstice again! And the weather forecast: 62 deg with a 50% chance of rain. I think I may warm up with a few mimosas before I start the ride :)
After that I got home and ate tons of carbs and sugar. One day of PET prep is hell. We had a staff meeting with pizza and I couldn't eat the crust. I sat and listened and secretly picked off all the cheese and ate it with no one noticing.
Last Friday (sunny day #1), I had my second Avastin treatment and an appointment with Dr. Rivkin. Yet again I was reminded of his awesomeness. When I walked in the first thing he asked me was about my job search. I told him that I still had no luck and that I was worried about losing my knowledge. I also mentioned that I was looking to shadow a doctor or another NP. As I was finishing that sentence he got on the phone and starting calling some NP colleagues! He tracked down one NP who worked in oncology who would be willing to let me shadow. I also get to shadow the NP in his clinic once a week! I still have to finalize details, but I'm really excited! I would absolutely love to work in oncology, and I think I would be pretty good at it :)
As far as the rest of the appointment, I gave him my "list of questions" and he went answered each one in order. ( I recommend that every patient with a chronic illness keep a list- it ensures that you get all of your questions answered, helps the provider, and improves the efficiency and flow of the appointment.)
1.) Blurry vision: He said that my dose of Tamoxifen was pretty low to have this symptom, but he agreed with my to make an appointment with an opthalmologist to get a baseline. Unfortunately I have to go through my primary care provider who I haven't seen in over a year. I now made an appointment to see her next week
2.) Avastin first treatment: I told him it went fine- no side effects. I mentioned how my blood pressure had gone up on too occasions, but when the nurse checked it in the office it was back to its low value. No worries there
3.) CT Scan: Normal. Nothing at all. However, I was due for the PET since it had been over 3 months. I couldn't schedule it at the time because of the lengthy approval process. Getting it within 1 week was surprising because it usually takes around 3. Even though I have financial assistance through Swedish, everything still has to go through my insurance company. However they approved it again :)
4.) Avastin treatments: Scheduled for every 3 weeks. Now they should only be a 30 second infusion, although it always takes an extra hour. Good thing I don't have a day job! I don't know what is going on in the pharmacy but they seem to be the cause of the wait. Maybe it actually takes 30 minutes to mix Avastin?
5.) Weight. 121. I guess I'll be wearing a lot of skirts, because that's the only clothing that seems to fit the best. Unfortunately I live in Seattle and it's Junuary so I'm gonna be cold. But I guess other clothes don't matter that much, considering I wear athletic pants and the same T-shirt 4 times a week.
That's all for now- tomorrow I'm getting up at 7am to strip down to my birthday suit, paint myself, and parade the streets of Fremont (which is conveniently my new neighborhood). Yes, it's time to celebrate the Summer Solstice again! And the weather forecast: 62 deg with a 50% chance of rain. I think I may warm up with a few mimosas before I start the ride :)
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