First Diagnosed

When I was first diagnosed I was told that it was stage 3, that meant lumpectomy, chemo and radiation. Not exactly what I had planned for the new year but there it is, or is it? There is so much that comes with being diagnosed such as MRI’s, bone scans, CT’s,ultra sounds and oh my gosh the blood work. After having a 2 hour MRI they discovered that I was actually stage 4 which means it had spread to other parts of my body, in my case the bones. Let me say right up front that rather you face things head on or cower in the corner, family support is of the up most importance. I am truly blessed, my dad Les and mom Judy as well as my husband Marty have been at the doctors with me every time, and of course my family and friends have provided great support as well.

So, stage 4, what does that mean exactly? Well, it depends on what you read and what your doctor believes after considering all of your medical history. When I was first diagnosed I was sent to a doctor that I quickly left after he was rude and arrogant, this same doctor put me on Femara, a drug to block estrogen which feeds tumors. This drug is also for women that have gone through menopause NOT pre menopausal women because it has no effect. Anyway, I got in with my current oncologist Dr. McNulty on March 6 2014. When my tumor was first measured it was 3cm x5cm, by the time Dr.M saw me it had grown to 6cm x8cm. Did I mention that Femara has no effect on pre menopausal women?? Dr. M put me on Tamoxafin and within a month the tumor was already shrinking!

Sounds like things are going great right? Well that’s the sneaky thing about cancer, there’s a new surprise around every corner so never get comfy where you are. In May I started having a lot of pain in my legs that was akin to restless leg syndrome and that was followed by sharp pains that felt like an ice pick stabbing me in my legs as well. Neuropathy , ahhh cancers little side kick. Now, I’ve never been angry about having cancer but I am angry at what I see as my body betraying me. I eat right, drink tons of water, exercise and quit smoking, and how does my body thank me? Cancer, and fast growing cancer at that! When the Tamoxafin quit working (tumor had shrank to 4cm x6cm) a C15-3 blood test was run. This test tells you how fast your cells are multiplying on a scale of 1-10, mine were off the chart. Next drug please.

Let’s talk for a minute about chemo drugs. No matter how you slice it, it’s toxic. Now call me crazy but if you already have something in you that is trying to kill you why in the world would you add something else? Answer, because it’s all we have. New drug was a nasty dose of 4 pills twice a day. This lasted me 1 and 1/2 days and I called it quits because I was not able to get out of bed and everything on me hurt including my skin. Quality over quantity is my motto. Next drug please… Lupron, originally used in prostate cancer and later found to have many other uses including slowing down and possibly even stopping the growth of cancer. What’s the catch you ask, it goes in the hip and hurts like heck though only for a moment. So far no side effects.