Referrals...

Alright, again, it has been a while since I have caught the most of you up on my stage of this never ending, no end in sight process. There is so much time between posts because there is so much time between appointments. It stinks.

I am guessing that there are two distinct reasons for this lack of speed. Most of the hold up probably is because of the silly insurance. I will throw it out there that I am grateful to have health insurance and that the surgeries and reconstruction will be fully covered, but I am frustrated with the freakin' maze I have to master before I actually obtain the prize. The other reason is that I keep having to change my PCM or Primary Care Physician because of lack of support. Oddly enough, it seems as though doctors aren't really about prevention and aren't embracing my ideology and kindly as I had hoped. I respect those women that chose to be hyper vigilant, but it's not for me. I am completely sound in my decision of wanting them replaced! So, if my PCM isn't fully supportive, they lag on getting me in to see a general surgeon; just another link in the chain.

Well, I am back in Alaska and have found a PCM that at least says what she thinks I want to hear. She put the referral through to the general surgeon at Bassett on Fort Wainwright. I have seen him before and frankly find it a complete waste of time, but he and his banana hands have to feel me up and send me out the door with yet another referral. This re feral will hopefully get me to a breast surgeon and plastic surgeon, but who really knows! I have called TriCare and am almost positive they will be sending me to Washington for the surgeries. I don't really know until my appointment on August 11th.

So, I am palming a sense of urgency in that within the last few weeks we have learned that my mother's sister, Debi, has been diagnosed with Ductal Carcinoma. Yeah, the same type of invasive breast cancer my mother had. Her cancer is growing rapidly just since the time of her primary MRI. From the research I have done, it is more common for hereditary cancers to be very aggressive. (All of those silly classes are coming backing into my head and I have a strange desire to cite something here, but will refrain for your reading pleasure.) She too has TriCare and wasn't able to start Chemo until her referral went through... had it not needed to take a week, she could have started that very day. Anyhow, because her cancer is snaking through her breast and possibly into the muscle, the doctors felt it would be in there best interest to have her get treatment immediately, but the lab tests from Myriad take about four to six weeks. So, I took the cape from my closet and flew to the rescue; not really, but the fax machine. The cancer is presenting itself as hereditary, so they are banking that she has the same mutation that I have. This pleases me knowing that in my own little way, I am helping shorten her chain of chaos. I will let you know when she gets her results though, very curious myself.

I am in the very same place I have been while concluding all previous posts. So, hopefully I won't see you here again, but chances are...