The battle of our life is won,
And heaven begun,
When we can say, "Thy will be done!"
But, Lord, until
These restless hearts in Thy deep love are still,
We pray Thee, "Teach us how to do Thy will!"
LUCY LARCOM
Last month, I had a couple of medical appointments that didn't go as planned. I'm sure you remember the four. One had to be rescheduled, another is still pending by insurance, one went well and one had to be redone.
Yesterday, I had my oncologist visit and I was looking forward to it. I wanted to discuss with her some of the above issues and my thoughts on it. The mammogram never goes well and needed to be redone so she prepared the referral. The colonoscopy went well and doesn't need to be repeated for ten years. Hurray! The Ct. scan is the one we needed to have a look at realistically.
It seems that insurance companies may not want to pay for what they consider no probable cause scans. Now, we are not sure why the scan was pending in the first place, but it hasn't happened before. My Oncologist had her own views on the why. She thinks it might have to do with the fact that my cancer comes back small. What I mean is that we catch it pretty early since doing scans every 3-6 months apart compared to my very first bout with cancer where the tumor weighed in at 7 pounds!
So why can't I just rely on the pelvic exam and the CA125 blood work? A CA125 is blood work that is drawn to determine your cancer levels. I think the safe amount is something up to 30 or 35 count. If the cancer is growing, the amount goes up. When the treatment is working, the amount goes down. Well, the CA125 has never been a large number for me. I believe I am at a 6 or 7 even when it is growing.
The pelvic exam has never been considered the main way to determine whether you have ovarian. In fact, ovarian cancer in general is difficult to diagnose without a Ct. Scan, especially in the early stages. I'm a little uneasy about solely relying on the pelvic.
So it seems we need to do things a bit differently from now on. My Oncologist has placed another referral for one, but this time, she was a lot more descriptive in my need for one in the comments. The words elaborate clearly have taken on a more important role.
I do know another ovarian cancer survivor, a three time survivor, who no longer has Ct. Scans. Her visits consist of a pelvic exam and a CA125 labs. Ridiculous. Honestly, I feel we are the perfect example of probable cause. I have a recurring cancer that has happened 4 times already. Isn't that reason enough? I guess not.
Have a blessed day everyone.
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