ncc & liver clinic

The 1st 5 years are said to be most critical for cancer survivors. Research done on NPC survivors shows that the 5-year survival rate is as follows : Stage 1 : 80-90%; Stage 2 : 60-70%; Stage 3 : 50%; Stage 4 : 20-50% (NPC = nasopharyngeal cancer or nose cancer). I was diagnosed with Stage 2 NPC in 2006.

Being my second year of survival, I now go to NCC for review once every 4 months. Today was my 2nd review this year. Dr Wee, my oncologist was away on conference leave, so I was attended to by Dr Ng.

Dr Ng asked me some standard questions & decided to do a blood test to check for thyroid. The same test I did one year ago showed I had mild hypothyroidism but not critical enough to be on medication. Dr Ng wanted to do the test again to check if it had become worse. Some symptoms of hypothyroidism are fatigue, breathlessness & intolerance of cold. I seem to have all of these. I understand that thyroid problems are common in cancer survivors who had head or neck radiation. I am one such survivor.

October is my "cancer anniversary month" so I have been scheduled to do CT scan in Nov to check for metastasis or spread of cancer. The scan I did last year had revealed 2 cysts on my right lung. Are the cysts still there? Have they grown in size? This is one concern on my doctor's mind. It's also my concern.

I went for my 2nd appointment in the afternoon. This time it was the liver clinic. The purpose was to review the AFP tumour marker. The 2-hour wait was long & tiring, and I almost slept while waiting for my turn. The liver clinic opens only on Wednesday afternoons & the long waiting time has become something like a norm for the clinic. Why is there such a shortage of liver specialists (hepatologists), I wonder? Or have they all gone into private practice?

The liver consultation was a non-event. Dr Leong went to some length to assure me there was nothing wrong with my liver & said the AFP test was unnecessary in the first place. I could sense his annoyance with the O&G clinic for ordering this test & giving me unnecessary anxiety. For this, Dr Leong said he would waive the consultation fee for today. He apologised that it was a wasted trip for me. Isn't that nice & thoughtful of him? Doctors do have a heart too. He reminded me to come for the once-a-year liver ultrasound scan & review in Nov.

To me, it was not a wasted trip. Dr Leong's assurance confirms what my body has been telling me all this while. I am one who looks out for external signs or symptoms which I believe would warn me if there is something not right in my body. So far there are no such signs or symptoms so I believe I don't have liver problems.

What a long day! I was exhausted by the time I reached home after 7pm. Maybe I am hypothyroid? I will wait for my oncologist's call. He has promised to call me when the blood test result is out in a few days' time.

thanks for reading & for praying,
tsk tsk