so, after waiting way too long i finally had my annual checkup at the hospital with my oncologist. the gist of the appointments in the past few years has been yeah, no cancer. come back in a year. today was a little different. since i've been in remission for more than five years (7 years, 3 months & 27 days to be precise-no really i calculated it with this) now i've been moved to the long term cancer clinic. i guess i expected the appointment would go like it always does, instead it was sort of a downer. mostly the nurse practitioner (jaye) told me about all the potential things i have to look forward to in the future. these include:
avascular necrosis is a disease resulting from the temporary or permanent loss of the blood supply to the bones. Without blood, the bone tissue dies and causes the bone to collapse. If the process involves the bones near a joint, it often leads to collapse of the joint surface.
this would be caused by the radiation and the prednisone (steroid) i got during treatment and is hopefully not the cause of the hip pain i've been experiencing for the last 5 years. i'll be having an MRI on my hips to be sure though. jaye mentioned hip replacement and told me not to do any running or impact type sports-basically swimming is okay. boo!
cardiomyopathy literally means "heart muscle disease", is the deterioration of the function of the myocardium (i.e., the actual heart muscle) for any reason.
also from radiation and the doxorubicin. i'm having an EKG done in the next month to get a baseline heart function. apparently the left side of the heart is frequently damaged and this can lead to heart disease and cholesterol issues.
thyroid dysfunction caused by radiation. already have that thanks. i'll be on synthroid for life. i'm being referred to an endocrinologist.
secondary cancers caused by radiation and the drugs i took. namely breast cancer, skin cancer, and tumors in the radiation field are the ones i have to look out for. hello mamogram!
learning disabilities caused by who knows what...got that also. nothing to be done.
so, as you can see it was kind of a downer!