Today’s post will probably be pretty short….Yesterday was a treatment day, so I’m feeling pretty crummy right now 😦

We’ll be talking a little bit about what to expect from an appointment with your hem/onc. The first step at my appointments has always been to head over to the lab for a CBC. After the blood draw comes waiting…generally a lot of it. This may be different for some…but at my doc, there’s aaaaalways waiting. During the wait is usually when I go over the questions I want to ask, and make sure my binder is in order. (I’ll be talking about the infamous binder tomorrow) Next is usually vitals. Once your name is called, the nurse will check your blood pressure, temperature, pulse-ox, and weight. This information is keyed into your chart to track your changes, and overall health. At this point, it’s off to the exam room where there is usually a little bit more waiting…Then in comes the doc, at which point you go over your test results, and talk about changes in your progress, symptoms, etc. Here is where I like to bring out my binder/notebook and ask whatever questions I might have.

Sometimes the doctor is in a rush, but you always need to be assertive and make sure he or she does not rush through the appointment. That is one of the unfortunate thing about specialists…because they are generally in such high demand, they are often overbooked. Which means they are often trying to get through as many appointments as possible.

After all of your questions have been answered, the doctor will make recommendations for your treatment, changes in dosage, or medication etc. Then you’ll be off to schedule your next appointment, and on your way home.

As I said, this post is pretty short, but tomorrow’s will be better 🙂 For now, I’m off to nap.

Until tomorrow,

Lina