Sunday, January 23, 2011

A boring January............

Which is why I haven't written. Not a lot going on. This new drug (Taxotere) seems to have a mind of it's own though. It was supposed to be better than the last drug, but it isn't, by much! Let's just say: intestinal cramping that is close to labor pains, extreme tiredness, nail color changes and joint pain (you don't want to hear any more, do you?!)

I did want to include the (before and after) pic's of what we leave for Santa every year (sghtti and meatballs, AND cookies/milk).

Quinten's 5th birthday is Tuesday and we are gearing up for a party next weekend. Also, my friend Michele and I have decided to make go on a spring  IKEA shopping wknd in May, which I am very much looking forward to. (So if anyone wants to send me an IKEA gift card for my birthday........)

I have 2 more rounds of chemo, then I have to start hormone therapy. (Not doing radiation - saving it for next time!) I have a cancer that responds to estrogen, so we have to make my body = no more estrogen! There are a few choices in doing this. Most premenopausal women have to take Tamoxifen, which has really bad side effects, ie; uterine cancer, cancer  of the other breast, cataracts, blood clots, menopausal side effects. NO THANKS! If I'm going to have the side effects of menopause, I might as well go through menopause! You have to take the drug for 5 years, so that would be 5 years of side effects, to go off of it and then go through the real thing! Might as well just cut them out and deal with it now! I'm already dealing with some of the side effects from chemo (night sweats, hot flashes, mood swings, and you thought I used to be a bitch - you should see me now!) Anyways, my thought is to cut them out and then take a drug with a lot less side effects - Arimidex - which is a drug that you can take when you are post menopausal.

I forgot to mention the latest political Dr. bullshit I've dealt with here. These Dr's here are very touchy and do not want to step on each others toes (that's what I get for living in a small town). I called the only woman oncologist here to speak with her (get her opinion) on ovary removal and hormone therapy. Her nurse kindly called me back and told me to speak with a nurse in my Dr's office or an OBGYN. I asked if she was refusing to see me and they said they would prefer that I took these steps (w/o directly answering my question.) HA!So I ended up calling my PCP and making an appt. with a (male)  OB. At least he knows about ovaries. All of the older women I've talked to about this said to get them removed. And I'm getting this stupid port out at the same time!

Next time I'll send a pic. of a tatoo (temporary) on my head. I got 50 for 5.00 from Amazon, all Henna style. I've gotten compliments on them! Until next time...............

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