I thought I would write down everything about what I go through. Talk about my treatment plan as of right now. Today.
Every 28 days, I receive a Faslodex injection which entails 2 shots on each side of my big muscle, my glutes. The needle is quite long and it takes an inordinate amount of time to push the medicine in. The needle is a big-ish gauge. Side effects? I have nerve damage in both legs from the shot. I am unsure if it's from the needle of the medication itself. I take gabapentin to alleviate the nerve pain from it. It hinders my short term memory quite a bit. Sometimes I forget the questions that people ask me or what the topic of conversation is.
Also every 28 days, I receive a Lupron injection which keeps me in menopause, and an infusion of Zometa to help strengthen my bones. I don't have a lot of side effects except for maybe whatever being in menopause brings which is orneriness and difficulty sleeping.
I am also on a daily "chemo" pill. I put that in quotes because it's not the chemical chemo that most people know. I actually don't know. I do know it's considered chemo. It's a 3 weeks on, 1 week off cycle. As I write this, I'm in the off week. The off week is nice because I don't have the bone crushing fatigue I can have sometime in the 3rd week. Last week we were off doing touristy things with Ben's cousin and it was my 3rd week. I'm paying for it a bit with sores in my mouth due to my body being so tired. Besides fatigue, I get nauseous sometimes and often my neutrophil count drops below 1000. My hair has fallen out a bit but when you have hair for 3 people, it's not a big deal. My platelets have been low at times too and I'm a bit anemic.
I had a PET scan before I left on our road trip. I haven't heard the results yet. I don't think I need to know right now. It is what it is. I won't be changing my treatment anyway while I'm here so I'm not anxious to find out. Speaking of the road trip, I was concerned about getting my Faslodex injection while in Boston. I've got things in motion and my angel at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute got things rolling and I have an appointment on Monday. I am well on my way to getting my injection if a few days late.
Now, to chronicle my physical ailments. I have bone pain where the cancer has metastasized. It doesn't mean the cancer is active but I do have pain in spots on my ribs. I'm lucky that my spine doesn't hurt much. There are times it does but it's not often. Mostly I hurt from the side effects from the medications I'm on. My hands and feet hurt on a daily basis, almost like arthritis. My feet are the worst though because if I've been sitting (like driving a long time), and get up, my right foot hurts a lot. It's a sharp pain in my achilles area. I know when I get back I'll have to get it checked out. It's almost debilitating. Almost.
I'm writing this all here not to have y'all feel sorry for me. Please don't (I'll take your prayers though). I'm living my best life, y'all. I'm super active and haven't really slowed down. We're on vacation (Ben and Arthur just left after a 10 day visit) and living as much as we can at the beach. I'm at peace with everything and am making some wonderful memories. I got to hug and see Ben's great aunts who are in their 90s. They are so full of life. We've spent so much time with family and it's all been wonderful.