My family doctor

So I saw my family doctor today. He said that I'm healed enough to both do activities I like to do (like, say, curling), and to start taking the Femara.

We talked a bit about me going back to work, and he said that he would sign me off for forever, if I wanted - I can choose to never go back to work. However, I would like to go back to work and to work while I can. Ian and I would like to do some traveling, and it's a bit easier to do that if I'm actually working as opposed to being on disability. As well, I'm only 37; I'd like to think that I can work for a while yet, that I'm not a complete invalid.

So now we just need to figure out when I'm going back. I'd originally thought about going back to work somewhere around the end of November, but I think that's too soon. Also, the stress of Christmas plus the stress of going back to work would be a bit much for me. Therefore, I'm looking at returning to work in the new year, provided, of course, that I respond well to the Femara. I feel good about this decision.

I also asked about driving; my doctor said that as long as my painkiller intake is stable, I can drive. My painkiller intake is definitely stable, as I'm taking 3-4 Oxycodone per day. I rarely take Percocet, although if I did I wouldn't be able to drive that day. I'm pleased about this news because Ian is having arthroscopic knee surgery on December 7 and I want to be able to take care of him then.

My doctor gave me the pathology and surgery reports from the surgery two weeks ago, and everything is normal. There was a bit of endrometriosis on the left ovary, which I wasn't too surprised to see as I'd consistently had pain there. Everything else, including my internal organs, was fine. Interestingly, they took out my fallopian tubes as well as my ovaries. The consent form that I signed didn't mention them - in one place, they put "(BSO)" (which stands for bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy), but they never explicitly wrote "salpingo" or "fallopian" anywhere; they only said oophorectomy everywhere something had to be specified. I know this because the nurse and I discussed whether the tubes were coming out when she reviewed my consent form, and she figured that they weren't. I don't need the tubes, so I don't care that they took them out. However, the fact that my surgery was not quite as I expected is kind of in keeping with the adventure that that day was. Sigh.

One funny bit in the surgery report was this sentence: "Sponge and instrument counts were correct." This came at the end of the report. I'm pleased to know that they didn't lose any sponges or instruments in me :)

In good news, I heard from the cancer centre. I have an appointment with a physiotherapist about the lymphedema next Wednesday at 2pm. I'm thrilled, because I'd been told that it would take 8 weeks to get in. The lymphedema has gone down a bit since the surgery, which is what I expected, but it could certainly come back. If it does, I'd like to know what I can do to minimize the swelling.