Annual health check

A few weeks ago I had an appointment for my annual health check. This is not the kind of check that is common in some countries, but one that I get as a result of cancer and the treatment. Even though I have gotten rid of cancer over 15 years ago, I still have one health check each year. In this post I would like to tell you a bit about the what, rather than the why. This years’ results came back fine, like they have for years.

As I said I now have one check every year, but until last year I had annual checks with 2 doctors. Even more so a few years ago. This was because of the location of the tumor and the type of treatment (with radiation therapy being the most annoying). I used to have checks with a range of doctors like radiotherapists, ENTs, internists, endocrinologists and dentists. I probably forgot some in that list. Aside from extra dental care (radiation is not good for your pearly whites) I currently only have appointments with an internist once a year.

The clinic where I have my appointments is called PLEK (Polikliniek Late Effecten Kindertumoren, or Clinic for Late Effects of Childtumors) and the focus is on prevention and early diagnosis of any illness or impairment in people treated for cancer during childhood. This includes effects which may have a cause in the treatment. Every year they check the usual things like weight, blood pressure, blood and urine samples and anything you bring to their attention.

Depending on the treatment they also have additional checks which may change from year to year. In my case it has been (amongst other things) ultrasounds of my thyroid (fried by, you guessed it, radiation), my heart (nothing wrong there) and hearing tests (also perfect). This way they hope to find any problems before they become actual problems.

This year I had planned to take a photo of the bloodletting for your enjoyment, but as is always my luck I got a trainee vampire. I did not want to get her nervous (nerves and sharp objects don’t mix) so I left my camera. My attentiveness was no good because she aimed, missed and maimed which resulted in the teach taking over. Oh well…

You might think it’s difficult or confronting to have to go through these checks every time, but to me it is like going on a day trip. With a bit of luck I have a nice one-and-a-half hour drive to Amsterdam, hang out at the hospital for a bit and get back in time for dinner. Two weeks later I get a call saying everything is allright and I’m good for another year. It has been like this for years and in all honesty I trust it will be for years to come.