I saw my oncologist yesterday for my regular visit. Well, it wasn't my oncologist because she was away so I saw someone who's been helping out at this cancer center. Apparently there are two oncologists at this center on maternity leave so they're a little shorthanded and this oncologist was called in from Hamilton.
I actually really liked this replacement oncologist. She and her nurse (who she'd brought from Hamilton) was very thorough in taking my history and understanding what's happened with me. She and her nurse both had an efficient yet caring manner. They dealt with me as though I will be their patient from now on, which I liked because I felt like I didn't have to worry about my care: I won't slip through the cracks the way I did when I first started going to this cancer center if my oncologist is out for a while. Of course I really want my own oncologist to come back but at least I'm getting great care when she's not there.
My CA 15-3 tumour markers were 40, up from 37 last time but still in the low zone. The oncologist ordered a mammogram for me (it was supposed to be ordered before yesterday's appointment), which is scheduled for tomorrow. She also gave me the prescription I'll need for the denosumab when I start getting it at home in February.
I'm happy I have an actual prescription for the denosumab instead of the cancer center calling it in somewhere because I have a bit more time to decide where it goes. I'm not happy with my pharmacy because when my prescriptions come in boxes one pharmacist tapes them together even though I've asked them multiple times to not do that and there's supposed to be a note on the file. There are two problems with this approach, especially with the pain medication prescription: first, I can't get the boxes open when they're taped together because of the way they open; and second, out of the four boxes I get, only two have a label on them. I'm hugely uncomfortable using pain medication boxes that don't have pharmacy labels on them.
I'm going to talk to the pharmacy (preferably the pharmacist who's doing this) one more time about this issue and if the next refill comes with the boxes taped together, I'll find myself a new pharmacy. I'll have to be sure that they can fill the denosumab, of course.
At least I'm happy with the cancer center and my tumour markers (and therefore my cancer) are still stable. Now that's some great news!
1 comment:
so glad to hear that your markers are still in an acceptable range, and that it went well with the oncologist. hopefully you'll get the pharmacy sorted out.
love,
vicki
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