Quick update

Kitten came through her surgery with flying colors. She's a little more fragile than usual, but she's all about eating, so I think she'll be just fine.

Zusa has osteoarthritis in her hips. Not sure about her shoulder yet, but she's on anti-inflammatories and they are working well so far. Still waiting for that heated dog bed though. I Hope it comes tomorrow before the weather gets really cold.

In other news, I'm dealing with a lot of muscle pain all over my body. Not sure if it's the tamoxifen or what. Actually, I think it must be. I spoke with the SCCA pharmacist today who was no help at all. I'm so shocked.

I have a call into my primary care doctor about the lower leg edema. My left leg is more swollen than my right leg, although it doesn't hurt and isn't showing signs of a clot or infection. My oncologist doesn't really know anything about using diuretics, so I think that will be best managed with my doctor in Olympia.

I sent an email to my oncologist earlier this week because after doing some research about tamoxifen on the web, I discovered several studies that showed premenopausal women losing quite a bit of bone density on tamoxifen. Since I'm going to be on it for 5 years, I don't want to find out down the road that I have osteoporosis. I asked about getting a baseline bone density exam (DEXA scan) and a Vitamin D level, both of which she agreed to. It's weird though, that these things wouldn't be done automatically. Anyway, it just goes to show that you really do have to be your own advocate when it comes to health care. I can't imagine going through this without some knowledge of medicine. Even though I don't have an oncology background, I understand the basics. And, I work with a bunch of nurses, so that all helps :)

Cat

Cat is my chiropractor and she is super amazing. In addition to doing gentle spinal manipulation, she also does muscle testing http://www.goodhealthinfo.net/herbalists/muscle_testing.htm

Today we talked about some other therapies to help down the road, such as acupuncture to help with the side effects of radiation and chemo. She also greatly reduced my stress/tension/migraine headache by working on my back, neck and head. When she did the muscle testing, I came up strong on everything, except for being overwhelmed by too many decisions. She helped remove some of that energy block and got things flowing again and I feel so much better. I was able to have a good time with some of my family after my appointment.

She also referred me to a new massage therapist in Tacoma for after I move and change insurance.

All in all, I am very grateful to have a practitioner like Cat to go to, who can really help with the emotional and physical stress cancer is putting on my body. I set up a bunch of appointments for the rest of this month since my current insurance ends on the 31st. Then, I start all over again with my new insurance. woohoo!