8/6/21: Lupron

Another unremarkable visit, which is good. It's kind of hard to believe that monthly shots are now such a routine part of my life. I had to wait almost half an hour again today, but that's okay, I always try to leave the entire morning free after an appointment, just in case of delays. 

7/19/21: I Emailed My Genetic Counselor

Today I checked in with my hospital's Cancer Genetics department. I called the same number I used last year to speak with a genetic counselor, and a recorded greeting said the whole department is working remotely. I could leave a message, or else send an email to an address provided. Email sounded great!

In the email I mentioned the name of the genetic counselor I spoke with last year, and the same person emailed me back. It was only afterwards that I remembered that I had already exchanged a couple emails with her last summer, and could have emailed her directly. I'll try to remember that for next year.

Anyway, she said she looked up my VUS-es (one on the BRCA2 gene and another one on PALB2) in all the clinical databases, and they are both still categorized as variants of uncertain significance. So, no new information. It would be a relief if they turned out to be harmless variants, but I guess them being VUS-es is still better than them being cancer-linked mutations for sure.  

7/15/21: I Checked My Insurance Claims Online

Finally my appointments seem to be slowing down. As usual, these costs are added into the total amount, but there was no out-of-pocket cost to me because we've already met our insurance deductible for the coverage year.

3/18/21: Medical Oncology NP Appointment: $481
3/18/21: Medical Oncology NP Hospital + Lupron: $676.16
4/12/21: Tamoxifen (generic): $228.99
4/16/21: Lupron: $571.16
5/14/21: Lupron: $571.16
6/10/21: Medical Oncologist Appointment: $326
6/10/21: Medical Oncologist Hospital (Including Blood Work) + Lupron: $1,541.16
7/8/21: Tamoxifen (generic): $228.99

Total cost to date: $427,196.61
With insurance, cost to me: $8,254.63

7/9/21: Lupron

The only interesting thing about today's appointment was that it took over half an hour because apparently my doctor forgot to put in the medication order. So the nurse called both the doctor and the NP, then had to wait for them to respond and put in the order, and then we had to wait for the pharmarcy to send up the Lupron. 

7/3/21: (1.5 Years Post-Chemo) Hair Update

I can't believe it's been 1.5 years since I finished chemo. It feels much closer. I am finally now - 1.5 years later - starting to feel like "myself". 

A huge part of that is because my hair continues to grow in. At first I was worried that it was coming in too thin, because I still had a "bald line" in the back similar to when I was losing my hair during chemo. Thankfully, as my hair gets longer, it's also been coming in thicker.

7/3/21: (6 Months of Using Scar Cream) Port Scar Update

I've been using the same scar cream for 6 months now, pretty much every night without fail. I guess the scar itself seems less delineated, but overall it still looks messy to me. I don't know if the scar cream is really helping or not, but at this point I figure I'll just use up the tube and be done with it. 

Here are some photos. There were only a couple weeks between the last 2 pictures, but the color seemed to change quite a bit, so I'm including them both.

Incidentally, the scar is on my left side, even though the bottom two photos make it look like it's on my right side! The bottom two pictures were taken with a new cell phone, before I realized I had to turn off mirror image selfies.  

I am now mostly resigned to just having an ugly scar. My clothes usually hide it anyway. And if it doesn't, I just have to keep this meme in mind:

6/15/21: I Checked My Lab Results Online

My estradiol number came back as "<5". I think this is what is expected, showing that the Lupron is sufficiently suppressing estrogen production in my ovaries. 

I originally switched from exemestane to Tamoxifen because the estradiol number wasn't low enough, but even though the number appears to be fine now, I think my doctor figures I should just stay on Tamoxifen, since I haven't had any significant issues with this regimen. I think I'm okay with this decision; exemestane might be slightly more effective at preventing recurrence, but I definitely have fewer side effects on Tamoxifen.