Gosh, it’s nice getting to say that. I went in today for an 18-month follow-up with my oncologist, and wasn’t even nervous. She did her palpations, didn’t find anything concerning, yay. She congratulated me on getting a bit more trim, which was pleasing, since I’ve been working hard on that. My weight has been pretty steady, but all the weight lifting has dropped about 2% fat from my body overall, and since fat cells put out more hormones and my cancer was hormone-positive, reducing my overall fat composition is one of the few things I can do that might help prevent recurrence. I’ve still got a ways to go, but progress is good.
We did talk about the fact that my breasts have been weirdly itchy for months, off and on, and she said that may be from the surgery, that the redirected blood flow can cause neuropathy. It’s mildly annoying, but not a big deal. I also asked about the big patch of numbness and tingling that I sometimes get on the left side of my back. Probably a pinched nerve of some kind, we both think. She’s going to consult with my surgeon, maybe schedule some kind of MRI, etc. just to check things out, maybe not. Under normal conditions, I probably wouldn’t even think to mention either of these things to my doctor, because they’re such not a big deal, but after cancer, everything gets a higher level of scrutiny, from me, and from them.
And that was about it. In another few weeks, I’ll be doing the second of 3-4 reconstructive procedures on my breast, another fat transfer to fill it out a bit more. Then it’s just check-ups until a bilateral mammogram in March, then another check-in with her in June, then in September I move to once-a-year check-ups with her instead of every six months. (Although I think that alternates with my surgeon check-ups, so I’m still getting seen every six months.) And so we go, rolling onwards.