7/12/19: Phone Calls + Medical Records + Diet and Exercise Recommendations

I called the Breast Imaging location to cancel my annual screening mammogram, which was on the calendar from being scheduled months ago, before all this happened. No breasts means no more mammograms for me!

I called my insurance company to ask if I needed to do anything for them in advance of my surgery. They confirmed that they have my breast surgeon referral on file, and it's the doctor who handles submissions for any authorizations that are needed.

At the suggestion of one of my cousins, I logged into my online patient portal intending to print out any official medical records related to my cancer. All the information I've gotten so far has been verbal, and it just seems like maybe it would be a good idea to have actual reports. But for some reason, the only records I could see online were ones related to my PCP.

I poked around on the internet and realized that even though my PCP's practice is a division of the parent hospital, there are actually two separate online patient portal systems, one for PCP practices, and one for the main hospital. I went through the steps to register for a main hospital account, which apparently takes 5-10 business days to be processed.

Meanwhile, in between figuring out the patient portal sites, I put a call in to my nurse navigator asking how I could get copies of my records. By the time she called me back, I had discovered the main hospital portal site. I said hopefully that account will give me the access I'm looking for. But since that might take up to 2 weeks, the nurse said she'd go ahead and mail me what's in my medical file already. She mentioned that she didn't see my genetic testing results in my file, so she'd follow up with the genetic counselor about that.

I also got a call today from a very dear friend who I've known for about 30 years. She's a dietitian, and has worked on clinical studies with breast cancer patients. She gave me some helpful advice on diet and exercise.

Regarding diet: Studies show that eating a low-fat diet can reduce recurrence rates, but it's not clear if that's due to eating more fruits and vegetables, or eating less junk food, or losing weight overall, or what. Without knowing exactly what has the most benefit, general recommendations include eating a more plant-based diet, minimizing consumption of red meat and processed foods, and eating whole grains. Okay, I can do that.

Regarding exercise: A recent study showed that 30 minutes of "moderate" walking per day can reduce breast cancer recurrence by 40%. (My friend said "moderate" is like walking at a pace where you can talk but can't sing.) I can do that, too!