Doctors can get sick too!

Today I went for my yearly OB/GYN wellness appointment. I was looking forward to chatting with my favorite doctor who first found my ER+, stage III breast cancer back in 2007 and saved my life, literally. I wanted her to know that unfortunately my cancer had metastasized last year (stage IV, on my chest wall) but that I was doing very well after 36 radiation treatments and two "clear" CT scans. I brought along copies of all the medical reports I had collected over the past year, blood work, CT scans, PET scans, bone scans, etc. I was shown into her exam room where the nurse instructed me to put on the white paper exam costume and that my doctor would be in soon. The nurse and I were discussing which tests Medicare would cover for me this year. After I said I thought the only yearly test covered this visit would be my mammogram, she told me that my wonderful, beautiful doctor was recently diagnosed with breast cancer too. I was devastated. She was the only medical professional in the 6 years prior to my first visit with her who was worried enough about my "lump" to order a biopsy. My doctor is young. She is one of those physicians who sincerely cares about their patients. You sense it, you feel it, and you love them for it. After she came in and my exam was concluded we talked about her sad news. I wanted to help her. The only thing I could do was give her information about my experience. She asked some questions about my radiation therapy, how long, scheduling, fatigue, etc. I told her what to expect based on my treatments, about the burns and the creams to soothe them. She is having to go through chemo before she has a bilateral mastectomy and then she will have radiation. I asked her if she was going to have reconstruction. She said no. I told her I had decided not to have reconstruction either in case I had a recurrence, a good decision. We hugged and cried together for a few minutes. We hugged again and she made me promise to keep her up to date on the status of my breast cancer and I asked her if I could call to check on her progress too. Doctors are not immune. Keeping my fingers crossed for both of us!