My Medical Dance Card

In keeping with my pledge to spend this month reviewing my own personal cancer-prevention protocol, as well as other healthy-living efforts, I thought I'd start with a roundup of all the tests and check-ups I'm supposed to have.

Make that the routine tests and check-ups I'm supposed to have—this gargantuan list is actually shorter than it would be if I were still in active treatment.

Here goes:

Appointment With	For	Frequency	Status
Yours Truly	Breast Self-exam	1x/month	Done this month, but somewhat iffy overall
Rheumatologist	Check-up	4x/year	✔ (3 down, 4th already scheduled)
Oncologist	Check-up*	3x/year	2 down, need to schedule 3rd
Endocrinologist	Check-up	3x/year	Overdue—need to schedule
Gynecologist	Check-up (clinical breast exam et al.)	2x/year	✔
Breast Surgeon	Check-up*	2x/year	Overdue—need to schedule
Dentist	Check-up	2x/year	Due next month—need to schedule
Internist	Physical	1x/year	Scheduled for this month
Radiologist	Mammogram & Breast Sonogram	1x/year	✔
Radiologist	Breast MRI	1x/year (6 months after mammogram)	Due in February—need to schedule
Dermatologist	Skin-cancer Screening	1x/year	Overdue—scheduled for this month
Radiologist	Bone-density Test	1x/year	Overdue—need to schedule
Ophthalmologist	Check-up	1x/year	Overdue—need to schedule
Internist (and Digestive Disease Subspecialist)	Colonoscopy	Every 5 years	Scheduled for October

*plus extra clinical breast exam

Well, I'm chagrined to have so few check marks in the right-hand column—I'm typically more on top of things. Looks like I have a bunch of phone calls to make this week to set up a(nother) whole slew of appointments.

And there's no excuse for me not to be doing my breast self-exams each and every month. The only salvation there is that I have at least seven clinical breast exams each year—way more than the recommended minimum of one—so I never go too long without a thorough once-over. I do think that the calendar approach will solve the problem—it's worked for me in the past.

This brings me to a question I've often pondered: why don't people do things that are demonstrably beneficial? In my case, doing a breast self-exam led me—indirectly, but still—to detect a new and completely unexpected cancer. Finding it myself meant catching it—and eradicating it—that much sooner. So how could I ever again let a single month go by without checking myself out?

The flip side of the phenomenon, of course, is when people persist in doing things that are demonstrably harmful. Case in point: why does anyone still smoke? How can one possibly justify the act of lighting up a cigarette, inhaling, and then blowing toxic waste into the air?

If we're wired for self-preservation, how do we explain this kind of behavior? How do we reconcile it with our fierce, innate will to live?