Visit with Dr. R

I'm happy to report on a really boring visit with the oncologist.

About the most exciting thing about it was the compliments I got on my Piggly Wiggly t-shirt.

As I wrote four months ago, the practice has changed a little -- same doctors and staff, but the management of the practice has been taken over by Yale's Smilow Cancer Hospital. So everything is kind of a big production  now. I have to wear an ID bracelet and give my name and date of birth every time I talk to someone, even though I've known all of these people for four years. And everyone seems a little harried, like they were last time.

But that's fine. I still like them all anyway.

So, the upshot is: everything is stable. Blood work is "perfect," he said. The physical exam didn't reveal anything drastic -- maybe a tiny bit of "fullness" in the area that I've had problems in. But nothing that worries him; he still doesn't want to see me for 4 or 5 months, which is the schedule I've been on for about a year.

He brought up the issue of a scan -- I didn't mention it.  He said my last one was in August, but he doesn't feel the need to make it an exactly annual thing, so we'll see how things look in September and decide from there.

It was a fairly brief visit, with no real concerns from either me or the doctor. Just the way I like it.

I will just continue living my life, I guess. I can handle that.