December 9th. Day 1. Tamoxifen
My treatment plan was confirmed a couple of weeks ago. I’m not sure why I haven’t gone live to update yet. No real reason except that I’ve wanted to see how the first few weeks go, and I’ve also just not been myself lately.
I should be over the moon happy that I caught my cancer early that I don’t need chemotherapy. And I don’t need radiation because I had a mastectomy and was considered lymph node negative.
But I’ve been feeling some sort of way about it, and I think its a bit of guilt. I’ve heard from or read stories from others that have gone through this, that that is completely normal. But I still don’t feel normal. But that’s for another time.
So here it is. In November I met with my oncologist. And 3 weeks ago, I started my drug treatment which is hormone therapy. I take 1 pill a day for the next 5 years minimum, maybe up to 10.
So for those wondering, what is hormone therapy? Here is the answer:
There are many types of breast cancer. If your cancer tests positive for estrogen receptors (ER) or progesterone receptors (PR), that means it’s using these hormones to grow and potentially spread. This is the type I have.
Hormone therapy drugs help block production of estrogen and blocks it from binding to estrogen receptors on breast cancer cells. So these drugs are used as an active treatment to shrink, control, and eradicate the cancer. They can also lower the chance of recurrence.The goal here is to lower the risk that cancer will come back.
The drug comes with a long list of side effects. I haven’t experienced very much as of now besides a few hot flashes and alot of fatigue. I get very tired, and having to limit caffeine on this drug doesn’t help.
So that is my mini update for now. Everything else is status quo and I head back to the hospital for a repeat MRI in January.
Thank you for coming along with me on this journey. If you have questions, comment below or reach out.
xo
D
