My Cancer Journey

Update 2: A couple of months after I had the acupuncture treatments my knees got worse again. They were very painful and I had edema on both knees. The swelling made them twice the size they normally are, and it was difficult to bend them. I did not like to sit down as that meant I would have to stand back up later, and getting seated and standing up from a seated position was difficult. I needed support to do both. It was worse than it was before the acupuncture, and I was miserable. I did not get a chance to go back to the acupuncturist, because after about one and a half month the edema as well as the pain started going away, and now the edema is completely gone, and the pain is manageable.  I am wondering if these kinds of issues just come and go without intervention. It will be interesting to see what will happen, although I hope it will not get worse than what it is now. I can deal with this kind of pain as well as the knees popping almost every other time I bend them. I...

I should have waited with my previous update 😞 Only weeks after I wrote it, the joint pain got much worse. Especially the knees. It was difficult to sleep because of the pain. Tylenol helped, but I do not like taking too much medication. I read that it sometimes helps to take the Anastrozole in the evening instead of the morning, so I started taking it, plus the magnesium/calcium supplement before I go to bed instead of upon waking. I still take other supplements and Claritin in the morning. It seems to help; the pain is less severe. It now only hurts when I walk stairs, especially down, bending my knees to sit down, as well as when I stand up. My arm muscles are getting stronger because I push myself up on them when I stand up from sitting 💪😎 Bonus side effect from taking the Anastrozole in the evening - I sleep better! 💤  I wish I could say my sleep is great every night, but a good night's sleep a couple of times per week is a win for me. Years ago when I ran, I had what is c...

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...