My Cancer Journey

It has been over two years since I started this journey, and I have now taken Anastrozole (Arimidex), an aromatase inhibitor (AI), for a little over one year. This particular drug is given to post-menopausal women whose cancer feeds off hormones. Many believe that women no longer produce estrogen after they have gone through menopause. This is not true. Our bodies do not produce as much, but we all have an enzyme called a romatase in our fat tissue that converts other hormones in the body into estrogen. The AI blocks the production of estrogen.  Pre-menopausal women are given hormone blockers like Tamoxifen which prevents estrogen from binding to cancer cells. AIs and hormone blockers have side effects ranging from severe to minor; most are somewhere in between. The most common side effects are hot flashes, weakness, joint pain or stiffness, bone pain, osteoporosis, brain fog, edema, sore throat, cough, headache, depression, insomnia, high blood pressure, nausea, vomiting, ski...

Sometimes when I squeegee the glass door after showering, I have flashbacks to what it was like while I was going through the first set of chemotherapy treatments. After each infusion there were a few days when I was not physically capable of cleaning the door. If I moved at all it was very slowly. Even then I was huffing and puffing with every movement I made. This happened after each of the six treatments I received over 18 weeks. I did a lot of sitting around those days. That is not easy for me; I need to move and be busy, or I get sluggish and depressed. Fortunately I was not like this every day. Although exhausted most of the time I was able to squeegee the shower door and do other things. Some days I was able to take short and slow walks. The fatigue from chemo can last from six to twelve months after you finish the treatments.  Seven weeks after the last infusion, before my energy had come back, it was time for the lumpectomy. This brought issues as well, and fatigue was one...

Chemo brain is very real. It is very frustrating. You feel like you are going crazy or are senile. Because it is something that others notice more than the person having it, I asked Craig to tell me what he noticed. The regular font is what he said, and the italics are my comments. It seemed her thoughts had to traverse through mud and bog filled passageways delaying her words and movements.   This is very close to how you feel. My brain truly felt like I was working my way through a fog that did not seem to end. It took me a long time to get a point across, and there were many pauses while I tried to think of words, or even what I wanted to say. It was the same when asking questions or conversing. I could see her mind engaged yet responses and their formulation took more time. A time or two, her mind seemed to freeze up momentarily before taking on a thought or task.   My husband was very patient. It was very difficult to string sentences together, and words did not come to m...

The first week after the first infusion was the worst one overall. Your body has a difficult time figuring out what to do with the drugs in your system. The nausea lasted less than one week for me, but the fatigue, although worst the first week after each treatment, was always there. It was a workout just to take a shower. I was huffing and puffing and not physically able to squeegee the glass shower door. During weeks two and three, while I was able to clean the shower door after showering, I moved very slowly. It might seem counterintuitive, but going for walks helps you not feel as exhausted; especially when combined with sunshine. I took many short walks outside. Usually very slow ones as they took a lot out of me. The pre-med steroids make your face round and ruddy. It is not a pretty look, but there is not much you can do about it. I also gained about 20 pounds, which I did not need, but it is better than losing weight. You need your strength so you can fight. I am very slowly lo...