On Monday, June first, I had a lab appointment at my oncologist's office. I thought that my appointments would be in August, but I had forgotten that I am ( was, actually) on the nine month checkup schedule. I received a phone call just a few days before my labs were to be drawn with the time and date I needed to be there. Now, keep in mind that I have not been ANYWHERE since March 24th. The idea of going to a doctor's office gave me the jitters. I will say that the procedures were handled in the best way that I could have imagined. When I arrived at the office, there was a sign on the sidewalk in front of the building where patients were to wait- 6 feet apart. There was a bottle of hand sanitizer at the front of the line. The check in person opened the doors when it was my turn to go inside. And by inside, I mean the space between the outside doors and the waiting room. A kiosk was set up there and the receptionist immediately took my temperature and asked how I was feeling. I said OK even though, as I have mentioned countless times, I could smell the hand sanitizing soap and, as usual, the scent immediately made me nauseous.
I was put in the " fast track" section of the ginormous waiting room and did not have to wait very long at all until the medical technician called my name. The technician took my blood pressure and got the blood sample, and just like that, I was on my way home! They are not kidding when they refer to this as the fast track. I wore a mask, by the way, and washed my hands and used hand sanitizer. I felt as safe as is possible now, I believe.
Part two of my appointment, the video visit, the virtual visit or whatever it is called, was conducted on Wednesday, June 3rd. As is the case when I actually was able to go inside the office, I spoke to a PA first. She told me that my blood work looked good. My calcium is low, but I reminded her that : 1) I only have two parathyroids. Two of the four were cancerous and had to be removed. As my surgeon told me at the time of my operation, he "chopped the other two up a bit and threw them back in." He said that he was not sure if they would wake up or not. Those were his exact words. I got IV calcium in the hospital after my TT and took a huge dose of calcium carbonate and calcitrol for 6 weeks or so afterwards. I am happy to say that they obviously did wake up, they just take a vacation every now and then because they must be working very, very hard.
2) I did attempt to supplement with calcium tablets a few years ago. But I ended up with a kidney stone that had to be surgically removed. My urologist assured me that if I should ever have another kidney stone, it would have to be surgically removed, too. No way am I taking any more calcium tablets!
After the PA and I chatted a little more, I was told to hold on for the oncologist. I will say here that I got all " dolled up" for this visit. And by that, I mean I put on a little makeup, washed my hair, and put on a clean shirt. It really was not necessary, though, because it was a grainy picture with delayed, echoing audio. I think that my oncologist was having a bad day, or maybe he hates these " virtual visits" because he seemed grumpy and I only talked to him, maybe 5 minutes, tops. He asked me about the neuropathy in my toes and I told him that my toes were still numb. He said, " Oh, well, it is water under the bridge, now." No offense to my doctor, because I really do like him, but I think that a troll lives under that bridge. The very best thing that he said was that instead of every 9 months, I can now go to the once yearly schedule. Yippee!
My big thyroid cancer check up is in October. I have an ultrasound, blood work, and an office visit scheduled. My endocrinologist is a 5 hour drive from where I live. It is too early to tell how everything will go. I will have to go into the office for the ultrasound and blood work. And I imagine that the appointment with my endocrinologist will be in person. I will probably still wear a mask while I am in the waiting room, lab and ultrasound room. Of course, it is still early as I said, so who knows how things will be in October.
All kidding aside, these are strange times now. Trips to the doctor's office, no matter how well things are done, procedure wise, are frightening. My heart goes out to those people who are getting chemotherapy now. When I was getting ready to leave the oncologist's office after my lab visit, there was a woman in the alcove,checking in. She had on a head scarf like the ones I used to wear. I knew that she was there for chemotherapy, and had no other choice but to be there. She defined the word" brave", in my opinion. I waited for her to get finished and head the other way into the waiting room before I walked past her. She was wearing a mask, she looked rather frail, and I can not stop thinking about her. It was hard enough getting chemotherapy when that was the only " devil" one had to fear. I am wishing her well...
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