Hi Sue,
Firstly, sorry about not replying sooner....it's my busiest time of the year at the moment and I'm not on here all that often! (I'm an accountant so have tax returns galore to do at the moment!!).
Yes, I trust Arlene too. I am still getting periods at the moment. I turn 46 at Christmas this year, so similar age. When my periods started coming back, they were awful! I was flooding after about an hour or sometimes even less. I went to a gyno and ended up having endometrial ablation done which has reduced them to less than what I was getting before chemo (fantastic!!). Up until now they have been regular but are now stretching out to over 30 days between each one. Arlene did a blood test when I finished chemo and said that my ovaries were working normally and that I shouldn't have any problems....not sure about that! I did have a cyst on one of my ovaries when I first went to the gyno but he thinks that was just caused by the "explosion" of the egg releasing from it. It seems to have gone now. I have fibroids though which cause me a bit of grief. When I had the endometrial ablation he was able to get rid of 90% of the main one that was causing trouble. I am having 12 monthly ultrasounds now which is putting my mind at ease. I get a bit of pain, more like a bruising type feeling, in my uterus, which I think is the fibroids.
I am not getting any more side affects from the Tamoxifen. As I said, Arlene wasn't sure if I will stay on it after I finish in 2016....I guess we will have to see with that one. Maybe it will depend upon whether I am in menopause by then? Not sure, as I will be 48 then. My mum didn't go thru menopause until she was 52 but I know that chemo has stuffed me around so who knows??
After having BC twice, I don't want to take any chances so I'll go along with whatever Arlene has to say. She seems like she is on top of everything "cancer-wise" so I'm pretty happy with that. That said though, it is always good to get your doctor to ask her the question for you as I'm sure the GP/gyno would understand the reasons more than us!
Good luck,
Louise x