Good progress

 I met my new doctor last week.

She apparently used to work with my former doctor, back after the first time he moved practices.  I never met her, though.

That put my heart at ease a great deal.

She is kind, and she looked me in the eye, and listened to me.  

Then, I met her nurse. 

Her nurse investigated that whole billing thing, where the patient portal had a message that said YOU MUST PAY THIS AMOUNT BEFORE YOUR APPOINTMENT.

Well, apparently, they can't legally require patients to pay up front for services that have not yet been rendered.  

I COULD have gone for all of those scans, and said "please bill my insurance first."

Neither the nurse nor the doctor knew that OU Health has the policy of sending an email ahead of time that takes the patient to a demand for payment.

Now, we ALL know, and we all know that it's just a "scare tactic," as the nurse put it.

We talked about all of the scans that the interim doctor had ordered, and my new doctor did indeed see it my way... every 6 months is sufficient for the routine CT scans, and the new routine of doing a bone scan, so those will happen in April.

In the meantime, though, she ordered a chest CT without contrast for next week.  

She said that Enhertu (the chemo I am on) can cause lung damage, so I will have to start going for a chest CT every TWO months.

Ugh... but if lung damage hasn't happened in a year, it's not likely to.

Also, my heart ultrasound that I had last week came back completely normal again!  Great news!

So, we will continue with the treatment protocol as it is until April.  At that point, we will see what the scans show, and go from there.

I do not need to see the doctor every time I go for treatment, and will only have to make the two appointments (doctor one day, treatment another) every 6 weeks.  

I can go for my blood draw before the treatment any time I want, on a walk in basis.

I feel like now, at last, this stressful transition of my entire care team, and the place that I go, is over.  

We can now settle into a routine, and I can shift my focus back to "center."

In other news, Dave has been released from therapy, after working through the program for PTSD.  His therapist is moving to a different practice, and wanted to finish this cycle of treatment with him before she leaves.

He will probably go back to his previous therapist now.

His 65th birthday is this coming week, and he will be starting to put the wheels in motion, over the coming months, for his retirement.

Today, it's rainy and chilly in OKC, and it's one of my Pagan holidays, so, once again, the weather is making me have to change my plans.  I had hoped to have a fire in my fire pit, but may still do one in the chiminea.

First, though, we are going to Costco, and out for brunch.  Have a good week!