He had my complete file from the surgeon’s office, took a brief history, did a physical exam and then got to the heart of our meeting. He agreed, no radiation, no chemo but it was his opinion that I should take some sort of preventative medication, on the usual 5-year plan. This oncologist is a breast cancer specialist and according to him, the likelihood of some other cancer (that may have spun off from the original cancer or vice versa) is about 8% in women in my situation (very early detection, BRCA-2).
Two drugs were mentioned, Tamoxifen and Arimidex; no real difference in effectiveness between them (again for woman in my situation); each with their own side effects. Tamoxifen, the drug that I will probably end up taking (as does my sister now) exacerbates hot flashes and I was impressed that he said they would treat the hot flashes (which I’ll experience once my ovaries are removed) before I even begin the drug. There was a real sense of working with the patient and acknowledging issues in a positive and proactive way.
So, while it wasn’t 100% what I wanted to hear, I wasn’t surprised. I figure all things considered, this is a small post-cancer price to pay for beating all the odds. I’ve already made the hard decisions; he didn’t have to have the ovary removal discussion with me, since I’m already sold on that, so it was a pretty straight-forward discussion. Hot flashes and some weight gain, all of which I can deal with holistically with diet and exercise–well, I feel like I’m getting off easy.
2 Things @ Once 
I like how you see your life as half-full. š
Thanks Jen. I feel very fortunate that this outlook comes naturally to me. (At least most of the time.)