28.11.14

Its D day - Dr Jack day.
I had my questions on my phone ready under the title 'Fun day out with Dr Jack!'
He started by telling me i looked very glamorous! That made me feel good, getting a compliment from a man wearing a lovely blue jumper. He did look very nice in it.
He examined me, but allowed me to keep my clothes on. Probably felt he wouldn't be able to keep his hands off of me!! (Yes I'm still in cloud cuckoo land)
Listened to my chest.
He asked about my list. I always have a list of questions or queries for him.
The list was as follows:-

Joints - very achey ankles, knees and hips.
Feet - very sensitive skin - getting blisters
How will i know if its back - glands removed so no return there, erratic ESR is my norm.
Cough - consistent cough since before chemo finished.
Supplements - magnesium, omega 3, glucosamine - its fashionable, apparently.

Joints - he feels may be an arthritic symptom from before chemo. (In other words, not his fault!)
Feet - he's not heard of that before.
How will i know if its back - ill come back to that one!
Cough - maybe due to gastric reflux, or asthma. See GP for antacid and steroid inhaler.
Supplements - mag - need huge doses for any benefit, don't bother, glucosamine - not proven in studies to have any benefit, unless placebo, omega 3 - good for you but fish tastes nicer, so have one or two portions a week.

How will i know if its back.
ESR (erythrocyte sedimentation rate) is a marker for inflammation and is the blood result that points towards relapse, as well as many other illnesses. The normal is 10 for a woman of my age, 20 for an older woman. Mines 50!!! Eek. But it has been raised on many occasions, so it is my normal for it to be erratic.
Dr Jack is convinced its due to my achey joints and i agree with him so I'm not overly worried, but it would have been nice for him to say, 'everything is fine and normal, still in remission' rather than, ' your ESR is raised but i don't think its anything to worry about!'
But he's the expert, i must trust him, so i shan't waste any time worrying about it. I will see him in 3 months, end of feb 2015.
He told me the first 18months are the crucial time. If i can get through that without relapse i stand a good chance of it not coming back!
As far as he's concerned, I'm cured! Although technically theres no such thing. He's known people get it back 40 years later!

So heres a photo of me at my first 3 month check. I thought id do them every 3 month check so i can see the difference.