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Even After Six Years … The dreaded Urologist
Yesterday was my six year visit to the Urologist. In the weeks leading up to the visit, I was kinda sure it would be OK. Kinda cocky even.
Three weeks ago I went to the lab for blood work in preparing for the visit. All was assumed to be well.
Yesterday was my SIX year visit with my Dr. I even had a good night sleep the night before. This is unusual for me. I was never able to sleep well the night before.
This is the timeline of the day.
8:00 am) Phone call from the Dr. office. “We need you to get a chest X ray today before you visit us.” WHY? I don’t like new twists at the last minute.
12:00) get to the X ray lab for my appt for “pictures and prints” Wait almost 2 hours to get in. I get in with no time to spare. I run to the Urologists office because they won’t see you if you are 10 minutes late. I was 5 minutes late. 2:00) The receptionist informs me they need to do an ultrasound today. No big deal, I have one on my neo every time to see if I am voiding properly. 2:15) I go into the ultrasound room and discover the ultrasound tech is the same one who did my ultrasound “SIX Years ago.” Haven’t seen him since. he is a VERY serious guy indeed. I mention the six year story and he is surprised I remember him. How could I forget? So I pull up my shirt and expect him to check my new bladder to make sure I void correctly and he says “We are doing a full check of your kidneys, liver and bladder” I’m not a big fan of unannounced change at the Dr office. He starts the “goop” procedure and then says “oops” (I don’t like oops) he says “technical difficulty” and starts the machine up again. So he spends a Looooooooooong time going over my whole lower region and saying a lot of “Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm” He is very serious, Just EXACTLY like six years ago when he found the cancer. he gives me NO indication of what is going on. I am beginning to freak out. Audrey says everything is “fine” He finishes up and says Nothing other than “hmmmmmm” Back to the waiting room. 3:00) Called into the room 12 (Very small room… no magazines)to wait for the Dr. We wait….. And wait…. and WAIT…… and wait some more. Someone comes in at 4:00 to tell us the Dr will be right in. 4:30) The Dr arrives! Explains that they needed time to read the Xray and the Ultrasound. My thought is: Why did these tests come up at the last minute? Quite nervous by this point. Did the blood test show something? This was supposed to be so easy and routine. A wick visit and an “All clear…. See you next year!” thing. Why all the changes and waiting?
BECAUSE ……. he wants us to move to a ONE YEAR schedule! He wanted to be sure of everything. Then he told us about “the turtle, the rabbit, and the bird” There are three kinds of cancer. SLOW (turtles) Medium(rabbit) and Fast(Bird) As we all know, once bc metastises it IS THE BIRD. Once it is out…. it moves really fast indeed. As if I didn’t know that. Mike’s memory has been pressing on my brain for months. The Dr explained that at this point, having six month checks was not going to spot anything quick enough. I have to stay vigilent enough every day and call immediately if anything changes.
“OH” he says, “You are clear of any cancer” “The model patient continues to be; The Model Patient!” “See you next Year!” Handshakes all around! Big,….. No… HUGE deep breath as we walk out the door!!!!! Nervous hug from Audrey. Shaking legs and then we meet the Dr. Assistant we have seen so many times before at the door. He is going home after a long day and I was surprised that he didn’t come in and see us. He told us he was involved in “informing a few patients that they had cancer and it was a tough day” We informed him that we were “ALL Clear” for the 6th year!!!!!! Carl was pleased to see that we wouldn’t be seeing him for a Whole year!
5:00) Got into the car. Drove 3 miles to the freeway……… and into a Traffic jam of STOPPED TRAFFIC that took us 20 min to go 2 miles. And we Were so happy to “Be There” We held hands like a second date!
So that the story. Worry, get stressed, bored, mad, scared, relieved and Crazy High……. All because a few bad cells have invaded the body.
If you are on this site…. You know. It never goes away. And that’s ok because we are all in this together.
Thanks for giving me the forum to vent and cheer.
George
Light a man a fire and he is warm for an evening.
Light a man ON fire and he’s warm forever.08/08/08…RC neo bladder
09/09/09…New Hip
=
New Man! [/size]8 Replies-
George, so glad to hear your WONDERFUL NEWS! Congrats!
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That is the roller coaster we all ride.
Just because we are OLD veterins on this site does NOT mean we are immune to the fears that pervade this thing called cancer.
In the words of Jason Robards in Parenthood; “It never ends. It NEVER ends”
But yes, The happy Dance is the word of the Day
Thanks to all of you who have supported and helped me.
George
Light a man a fire and he is warm for an evening.
Light a man ON fire and he’s warm forever.08/08/08…RC neo bladder
09/09/09…New Hip
=
New Man! [/size]
George, you are wicked! Started to read your post and my stomach was in a complete knot- time stood still,I felt like I was in that waiting room with you but I feel GREAT now I got to the end.So glad you got good news.
CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!
Diane
Woohoo George!!!! GREAT NEWS!!!
I know exactly how you felt. I am so paranoid, any little hmmmm or expression, scares me :ohmy:
That is great news, no relax and celebrate! I am dancing with you!Nancy
Nancy S
Ta CIS
dx Ta 11/06
dx Ta CIS 10/07
To all who read this;
We all have stories to tell about surviving,or living each day.
Having bc ain’t for sissies and it is a royal pain in the ass for sure.
But through it all, don’t let the story of life,and survival keep you from looking at the whole picture.Sometimes it is a rough ride for sure.
There is humor there and that is what gets us thru it all.Yup it’s been 6 years. And to think I just begun my mission to stay alive another 41 years. I’m gonna be on the Today show with Willard Scott and tell him the key to my long life was the getting, and beating cancer.
Live well. Laugh often. Find humor in any way you can. It’s out there. Sometimes hidden under a pile of dung. Ha Ha
George
Light a man a fire and he is warm for an evening.
Light a man ON fire and he’s warm forever.08/08/08…RC neo bladder
09/09/09…New Hip
=
New Man! [/size]
George,
What a hart jumping day! Congratulations! and what a story to read, Well written!
Niklas12-12 Diagnosis
13-1 Turb TAG1
13-5 Turb Ta low grade, multiple
13-10 Turb TaG2, multiple
13-11 Mitomycin 8 weeks + 6 month
15-01 Turb
George,
Again well said!
DX 5/6/2008 TAG3 papillary tumor .5 CM in size. 2 TURBS followed by 6 instillations of BCG weekly with a second round of 6 after a 6 week wait.
George (aka Model Patient)… so HAPPY to hear your report! What a day you had, but the happy ending made it all better in the end. Congrats on your move to one-year, but I will warn you now, at about six months you will become concerned that no one is checking you. To allay my fears last year, I went to my local doctor for a cytology just to make me feel better. It came back normal. This year, I skipped that step and try to remain positive that this October will be clear like last year.
I think about Mike almost every day. He would not want to cause us a second’s worry but I can’t help but feel that he should still be here with us… and I’m sure in many ways, he is.
Happy SIX year anniversary!!!
Best wishes… CatherineTURBT 1/21/10 at age 55
Dx: T2aN0M0 Primary Bladder Adenocarcinoma
Partial Cystectomy 2/25/10
Vanderbilt Medical Center
Nashville, TNSign In to reply.