I'm still hot.....it just comes in flashes now!
UNDER CONSTRUCTION!
Day 16 - fourth fill
Couldn't sleep last night....not sure why, so got up and watched some TV and went back to bed at about 1am.....apart from a disturbign dream I had......I'm wondering if the hormones I'm taking have something to do with it?
Hormone-sensitive breast cancer cells contain proteins known as hormone receptors that become activated when hormones bind to them. The activated receptors cause changes in the expression of specific genes, which can lead to the stimulation of cell growth.
Oestrogen and progesterone can also promote the growth of some breast cancers, which are called hormone-sensitive (or hormone-dependent) breast cancers. My breast cancer was ER/PR positive.
So as part of my treatment plan, hormone therapy was included. I wasn't expectinig to start quite so soon though, but the Oncologist suggested it better now than later to get started....
I am taking a drug called Tamoxifen. This drug works by binding to the Estrogen receptors in my body and blocks the Estrogen from
binding to them. I was pre menopausal when I got my cancer and so now thanks to the hormone treatment, I am now in menopause.
I already had a hysterectomy in 2000 ( I had Endometriosis) but my ovaries were left in tact.....this may or may not cause an issue later as your ovaries, skin and other tissue produce the hormones needed to grow my type of cancer.....so it could be on the cards that I have to have my ovaries removed eventually or I can also take a medication that shuts them down permanently. This part is confusing for me as some Dr's have different views....so will have to get more information to make an ingformed decision about this.
So, on top of everything else this bitch makes you endure...I am now enjoying the side effects (ther's that friggin word AGAIN!) that come from taking hormones and menopause......
Knowing that this was to be part of my treatment, I had read up on it and also read other women's experiences.... I decided to call it "horrormone" treatment....They say you get achy and your joints hurt too, but this is hard for me to figure as I already have pain from Osteo Arthritis in my hands, hips, knees, feet and spine....so can't say if that has got worse as yet or what is causing it.... Weight gain, which I am yet to experience ( I lost about 9 kilos during chemo (not including my missing boobs!) and seem to have stayed the same since....I am however experiencing hot flashes :/
So I did prepare my self for the onslaught of awful side effects but while they are inconvenient, they're not that bad really. I only have a handful throughout the day and they're over with quickly. Maybe it's because it's winter time that I feel they're not too bad? who knows? and I think also because I have no hair, they don't feel as intense? My head gets sweaty so I can imagine if I had a full head of hair it would make it feel 10 times worse....Hmmm maybe being bald has it's perks after all!
I have been sleeping relatively well apart from a few nights here and there of restlessness....I KNOW for a fact that my teary meltdowns have been helped along by the hormones but all in all I can't really say that the hormone therapy has caused to much interruption to my life...
The pain from my expanders has settled more today as well, so apart from being tired, I feel OK!
Not much doin' today...just hanging with my mate Rusty and working on my drawing....might slip in a nap later.....just a cruisey Sunday...
Enjoy yours!
