Oncologist Appointment

On Friday 7th June I head to see the Oncologist. My sister Helen kindly takes me whilst my brother in law has his first experience of flying solo with a pre schooler. Thankfully the baby was at nursery all day.

This is the first appointment Helen has attended. We don't have to wait too long and we go in and meet another lovely chap who has not one but two nurse bodyguards!

The first thing he asks me is what my understanding of the situation is. Good opener, helps him gauge what sort of uphill struggle he might have, I'm taking that one away with me to use when I return to work.

Luckily for him I am able to confirm that I have seen a copy of the letter from my surgeon that he has in front of him and that I am aware of what's being recommended for me. Knowing that this might be his opportunity to catch up on his list, he seems quite relaxed then! He is brilliant, takes me through everything. We have a conversation about whether I want more children. After peeling myself off the floor I explain that I don't and demonstrate my sparkling sense of humour by informing him that the one good thing about this illness is that it has avoided an awkward conversation with my husband if and when the subject of a third baby had ever reared its head.

He then fills in the best and most detailed consent form I have ever seen - potential side effects ranging from diarrhoea to death. He pushes it across the table to me and I cannot resist saying brightly "Well, sign me up!!!". Helen silently guffaws.

Afterwards I realise I could have added "And it's free? What more could a girl want?!" But I didn't want to be sectioned there and then on top of everything else, so probably best that I refrained...

Not much else to report other than that he confirmed what my surgeon had said would happen next. He also got in on my jokes by saying "Sometimes your ovaries start working again after the treatment. But we won't tell your husband that!". Good man.

A small caveat here - I do not mean to sound flippant or ungrateful on the children issue. I am very very happy and eternally grateful to have my two babies. But, cancer or no cancer, I personally did not want any more. And this is my blog, and I'm talking here. So there... ;-)