Self-Reflections on Cancer Treatment

I wish someone had told me sooner. So that's my motivation to write this post. Most every woman diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer completes surgery and radiation and perhaps chemo, then starts oral medication that is taken, typically for five years. The 'go-to' med is tamoxifen, but I got cancer while taking Evista (a cousin of tamoxifen), so my doctors knew that drug would not provide protection. So I was started on Arimidex. Most women tolerate this drug just fine, with some early morning aching that dissipates as the day goes on and of course, the accompanying hot flashes that come from the estrogen-suppressing effects of these drugs. So it was true with me, though both the aching and hot flashes were fairly severe and constant.

But in November, when my doc asked me how I was feeling, I credit Ted with speaking up. So often he is more keenly aware of how I'm feeling than I am. I have this ability to suppress how I'm feeling so that I can keep going. So the nurse practitioner pressed me a bit more and proactively suggested that we try a different regimen. I went off the Arimidex for one month, to give my body a chance to recover from the effects, then I started a sister-drug called Aromatase, which is chemically just a bit different, but with the same estrogen-suppressing effects. I was also started on a drug called Neurontin (gapapentine is generic name) for the hot flashes.

The results have been pretty dramatic, now that I have about a month of the new treatment effect. I no longer ache all day. The 6-7 hot flashes per hour that I was experiencing, are mostly gone. I'm sleeping most nights all night long vs. waking up every hour due to hot flashes. I'm sure you can imagine the impact this is having on my energy levels. I now have some hope that I might return to my 'old self' one day!

So my take-away message is this. If you are a breast cancer patient reading this message, speak up when you see you doctor. I didn't think there were any alternatives, so had resigned myself to feeling crummy. What a blessing it was that Ted spoke up on my behalf!