i try my best not to complain ( too much, anyway). everyone who has cancer and treatment for cancer will have complications, unusual side effects, things that come up,etc. i am just a little tired of my chest getting infected ( again). i have a great surgeon, so i do not blame him for any of this. i did overdo it right at first, the first time that things got infected. that was part of it. i told the breast care nurse at frye, " you know how you gave me that lecture about not just sitting back and letting people do things for me? well, you should have given me the " do not overdo it lecture instead." she replied that she thought for sure she had given me the latter.
i have been blissfully unaware of how chemotherapy would really affect me, how the surgery would affect me, and what my new normal life would be going forward. i thought that i had researched and prepared for this pretty well. i guess that it is impossible to know these things until you experience them for yourself.( i do not recommend this, by the way). one of the main reasons that i decided to write this blog was so that i could share information with other breast cancer patients. my thyroid cancer blog has been going on for five years now. i will admit that i have neglected it somewhat because i have been busy with this one. thyroid cancer is not as common as breast cancer, though it is the fastest growing cancer now. there is a lot of misinformation about thyroid cancer. being hailed by some as the " good cancer" being at the top of the misinformation list.
i have said before that i think that there is a link between having thyroid cancer and breast cancer. i know of a few people who have both.( that would include me in that membership ) it may just be the fact that 30% of thyroid cancer patients will get another primary cancer in their lifetime. it may be something else. i sure wish that someone would do some research into this link, though. all that i can say now to you thyroid cancer patients out there, is to make SURE that you have your scheduled mammograms. do not skip a year or anything stupid like that. thyroid cancer may sometimes be a slow growing cancer, not always by the way, but breast cancer is usually an " off to the races" type of cancer. in other words, time is of the essence.
i continue to hope that this latest infection will resolve without more surgery. i am doing the hydrogen peroxide cleaning and application of bactroban ointment twice a day thing again. i see the surgeon next week, but while it has not gotten any worse, it has not yet improved. i wish that i could offer up some advice on how patients could avoid this. the only thing that i can add is for patients not to pick up anything heavy during those first crucial weeks after surgery. i am not sure that not doing any heavy lifting will prevent a chest infection, but i still recommend that all breast cancer patients think before they pick up something. simple to say, but if it is heavy, put it down!
another thing that i wanted to mention is the arimidex ( estrogen blocking drug) that some breast cancer patients will be taking after chemotherapy is completed. i have been on this drug now since the end of my chemotherapy, from about october on, and i am experiencing severe arthritic symptoms. stopping this drug is not really an option for me. there are a few other choices, but in postmenopausal (that would be me) women, the arimidex has been proven to prevent recurrences about 22% more than the other medicines. since i have read that women who have had breast cancer have a 30% chance of a recurrences, i have decided to stay on this medication. the bad news is that while the time period to stay on these estrogen blocking drugs used to be five years, new studies have recommended that women stay on the drugs for TEN (yes, ten) years.
i called my physician and asked what i needed to do to manage my arthritis symptoms. he told me that i could take an anti-inflammatory drug- one that would be a little easier on my stomach than the over the counter ibuprofen i had been taking. i suppose that i could have asked for some heavy duty pain medicine, but i do not want to take anything stronger for several reasons, one being the fact that hydrocodone,etc, makes me sick. of course, with an anti-inflammatory drug, prescription or over the counter, you run the risk of stomach bleeding. i will use my "scale analogy" here. when i was counseling patients in the pharmacy about their medication risks, i told them that you have to weigh the benefits of a particular drug versus the side effects. as a patient, and your own best advocate, you should gather the most reliable information that you can and make the best choice for you. so that is what i have done. i will keep everyone posted on how this is working out for me.
as for my latest bout with a chest infection, i will know more, i guess, on thursday. thank you again for reading my blog and i hope that i have provided some useful information for those dealing with breast cancer or thyroid cancer.
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