3 month follow up

My treatments ended 5 years ago (except for Tamoxifen and we will discuss the 10 year option when I next see my med onc in April).  I had 4 month followup visits, then 6, and now I have 6 month visits but one of them is with the NP and only one is with the med onc, so I see her only yearly. 

I'm afraid that's about it at the 3 month visits (thank goodness actually).  My med onc orders and checks labs and asks how I am doing (now is time to bring up any questions), the surgeon did my breast exams for the first couple of years, so anything off there would be checked then, and my mammos and breast MRIs are ordered and reviewed by the med onc.  IF anything is amiss on anything (patient complaints, physical exam, labs, mammos and if you have scans) they will be checked out at those "routine" 3 month visits.  We suddenly change from being the center of attention to just another office visit.  The visits are important in spite of feeling that we're not.  I'm sure they don't even think about us until about 2 minutes before they enter the exam room!

I have a very lovery, chatty med onc and I usually have a few questions (like why is my Vitamin D level so low) and for the first couple of years I complained bitterly every single chance I got about my hair not coming back,, but now it's just part of our rhetoric together.   Grow any more hair?  Nope.  End of conversation.  What basically happens at the visits is I ask about her family and she about mine.  The NP now does my breast exam and my med onc only does if I'm feeling something is off.   I hope I can always keep connected with her on a yearly basis and that my visits remain social visits.  Takes a while to accept that, Kelly.  Make the most of your visits.  Oh, the other thing my med onc follows is my bone density tests.  Sounds like yours simply didn't have anything to say as everything was ok - and that is a good thing.

Happy Holidays to you.

Suzanne

Puffin2014 said:

follow up visits

Mine does do a physical each time I go, checks my lymph nodes, looks in my mouth, listens to my heart and lungs, does a breast exam each time.

Checked my remains ng nreast for lumps, bloodwork, and said I like oked good, this was standard for 8 ears unless something else was happening that I brought up.  If you have any questions, I wouldn't hesitate to call and leave a message or email.

Hope all is well.

Carol,

I have my first visit with my medical oncologist tomorrow morning and joined this survivor network tonight to see if I could find any information on what to expect. I had a follow up visit with my surgical oncologist last month along with my first mammogram since my IDC diagnosis last July. Thanks to everyone who posted here. I am a little apprehensive about going tomorrow, but it sounds like it will be a fairly routine appointment.