{"id":9029,"date":"2025-05-23T17:23:46","date_gmt":"2025-05-23T21:23:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rickollie.com\/?p=9029"},"modified":"2025-05-23T17:24:01","modified_gmt":"2025-05-23T21:24:01","slug":"navigating-cancer-follow-ups-my-personal-journey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rickollie.com\/es\/2025\/05\/23\/navigating-cancer-follow-ups-my-personal-journey\/","title":{"rendered":"Navigating Cancer Follow-Ups: My Personal Journey"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cancer Sucks<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I know I’ve told you ‘Cancer Sucks<\/em><\/strong>‘ before. But really it does. Actually, it does more than suck. It bites; it suffocates, it strangles, and it messes with your mind. Pretty much the whole month of May. cancer has been on my mind. Beginning on the 14th when this little amount of blood was drawn for a follow-up PSA<\/a><\/em><\/strong> (Prostate-specific antigen) test. It’s a screening test for prostate cancer<\/a><\/em><\/strong>. I’ve had to have it done several times since I completed radiation therapy for the disease in late 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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PSA 051425<\/em><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

However, the results came back higher than expected. And on the 15th while at a follow-up urology appointment I was given an order for a second PET Scan<\/a><\/em><\/strong> (Positron emission tomography scan). It’s used to determine if the cancer has returned after treatment (recurred) and if it had been missed or spread. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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ME 051525<\/em><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This is where all the fun begins (sarcastically speaking). What one would think of as easy, the scheduling became a real ‘bite’ in the ass! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I first called, the scheduler said, sorry I don’t have everything I need. ‘What is it you need, ” I asked. She rattles off a few things in my hospital chart like past PSA results and doctors’ notes. I tell here where to find them. But guess what? Those are from my oncologist not my urologist that made the order and he doesn’t work at the hospital. This goes back and forth for days and finally I receive a call from the urology department I’m with, and she tells me, she’s on it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the meantime, I had a follow-up with my primary physician (I add her here because she makes me smile). I’ve never had to see her when I’ve been sick (knock on wood) with hospital visits excluded. But she’s saved me from worse things by being proactive with my health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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ME 052025<\/em><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Afterwards, I’m still chasing an invisible tail in circles as the woman in scheduling keeps telling me she hadn’t received a thing. At one point she even asks me if I think she’s lying. Well, someone is, I ponder, as I let the question slide. Thanks to Caroline<\/a><\/em><\/strong>‘s meditation techniques and a short breath I refrain from calling her out in a non-Italian vocabulary. Perhaps I need a lesson, Sara<\/a><\/em><\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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