Like molasses

Updates have been few and far between, which is in stark contrast to my initial breast cancer diagnosis 3 years ago when the updates were coming fast and furious.  The difference in pace illuminates the fundamental difference in how early stage breast cancer and metastatic breast cancer are perceived.  When the diagnosis is anything other than stage 4, the plan is GO GO GO, treat treat treat, let’s beat this thing!  When you get to stage 4, things seem to slow wayyyy down.  There isn’t quite the rush to start treatment as there is in the earlier stages.  I’ve decided that’s because when you get to that stage, there is no cure.  (I mean, there really isn’t a cure in the earlier stages either, but that’s apparently a well-kept secret.  Aaannd that is a topic for a different blogpost!)  Things slow way down and time is taken to decide on the best treatment plan.  So this is why you haven’t really heard from me, there wasn’t anything to share, up until now.

If you’ll recall, I had a 5-step plan for treatment.  Let’s review and discuss what has gone on with those steps.  Step 1 was to have a bone biopsy.  That took place a few weeks back, and it was confirmed that indeed, the cancer in my bones is the same one that was in my breast.  Step 2 was to shut down my ovaries (i.e. estrogen factories).  This was to be done with a drug called Lupron.  I received one injection and spent the following two weeks having major thermoregulation issues, feeling achy in my joints, and having a headache that wouldn’t quit.  I did some reading and discovered that the drug is really strong and kind of evil, actually.  There’s a facebook group called “Lupron victims”, finding that group gave me pause.  Long story short, I decided that I neither wanted nor needed to continue taking the medication.  There are a lot of other toxic chemicals I’m going to have to take.  Since this one wasn’t required, I decided not to subject myself to it.  “But wait”, you say, “what about shutting down the estrogen factory?”  Good question!  It can be shut down chemically or mechanically.  I had originally gone for the chemical option because the recovery time was nil, but, I have since changed my mind.  As such, I’m having my ovaries out on Wednesday the 21^st.  I’m well aware that I’ll probably have all of the same side effects as with the Lupron, but it will be more natural, if you will.  But, beware, I’ll probably be an emotional disaster and when you see me sweating up a storm, just smile and nod and pretend that all is well!

On to step 3, which was the crux of the treatment, hormonal therapy.  I haven’t actually started this, since the factory is not yet shut down.  There was, however, a change in medication because the insurance wouldn’t approve the oral chemo unless I took it with Femara instead of Faslodex.  (Insurance companies are so annoying!)  Sooo, Femara it is.  I have the Femara (an aromatase inhibitor which inhibits the conversion of adrogens to estrogens) and expect the Ibrance (oral chemo which blocks certain enzymes that cancer cells need to grow) to arrive tomorrow or Wednesday.  You see, I have been upgraded to a special category, one in which the medications get shipped to my front door directly from a specialty pharmacy.  Aren’t you envious?  Oh, wait, no, um . . . . . . . anyway . . . . . . so I’ll start taking the hormonal medication next week to give my body time to heal from the factory removal.  (As a side note, the removal is happening laparoscopically, which means only teeny, tiny incisions, which means a quick recovery time.)

Step 4 was to talk with the nutritionist, which I did, and it didn’t really net me much cancer-fighting info.  Oh well, I’m still planning on trying to be ultra healthy, so don’t be surprised if you see me drinking lots of green smoothies and shots of wheatgrass!

The final step, step 5, was to do complementary therapy.  In my previous post I said alternative, but that was the wrong term.  Alternative implies that I would not be using traditional Western medicine.  Complementary, on the other hand, means that I’d be using other methods in addition to Western medicine.  The biggest thing I have been doing is prayer.  I pray constantly and have many friends who are always lifting me up.  I also was anointed by an elder from my church several weeks ago and had a wonderfully uplifting prayer service attended by many friends.  The other thing I’m doing is using Chinese medicine.  I’ll admit that I know very little about it, but I’m learning as I go.  A friend of mine is helping me out by offering treatments to help reduce my stress and to boost my immune system, which is going to take a hit thanks to the oral chemo.  She is using cranio-sacral therapy, Reiki, and a little bit of acupuncture.  We are also looking into the possibility of Chinese herbal compounds.  The final thing we are going is laugh therapy.  Every night, hubs and I watch an episode or two of Big Bang Theory.  We started at the beginning and are partway through Season 2.  We only have up to Season 3, so when we finish that, we’ll have to find the other seasons.

So are you confused yet on the plan?  It’s a lot to take in and process!  The biggest question for me is:  how do we measure efficacy?  The answer is a combination of different methods.

1. Checking tumor markers on a regular basis. This is a test that shows if there are elevated levels of a particular marker present in the blood when certain types of cancer are present. My original reading was around 260ish.  The one from Friday was 330ish.  Upward is not good.  But then again, I haven’t really done anything to help the numbers go down.  So, this is why the test is done on a regular basis.

 

2. My own evaluation of how I feel. The importance of this method cannot be underestimated.  Let’s not forget that the entire reason that the breast cancer was found in the first place was because I was paying attention to my body, and it’s the same reason the metastasis was found.  So I’ll continue to listen to my body and speak up when things seem off.

 

3. Scans. PET scans, CT scans, and ultrasounds are some of the imaging that will help to measure efficacy.  I’ll be getting an ultrasound done next week to have a baseline measurement of the tumor in my left axillary lymph node before starting the oral treatments.  CT scans will happen when we need to measure the growth or shrinkage of lesions.  PET scans are obscenely expensive, so they will happen “only” every few months, just to make sure nothing new has popped up.

If you made it through all of this, you deserve a medal!  I’ve gotten it all worked out in my mind, but the thing I’m learning is that there’s no sense in looking too far down the road.  It’s one step at a time.  When you see where that step takes you, then you can figure out where the next step should be placed.  It’s a slow process, so don’t be surprised when I go silent.  On the other hand, don’t mistake silence for good health.  In addition to being an enigma, metastatic breast cancer is a chronic and terminal disease.  In this case, silence is just silence.  If you want to know whether the silence has positive or negative implications, shoot me a text or email or PM me.