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A positve for hormone therapy @Joannie. I was diagnosed with Metastatic Breast Cancer in 2016. Have not had surgery, chemo or radio because of this. At times when I read other's posts, I cannot even comprehend their experiences. As stated by others above, each person's walk is different. I am on Letrozole with monthly Xgeva injections. Recently I have had my first repeat CT's post diagnosis. I am glad to say that Hormone treatment, despite coping with some side effects has been valuable as it is holding the cancer at bay.

The big positive is that it's (hopefully) keeping the cancer away!!Like many, I have side effects, but try to work around them. After all, I am here to moan about them if I can find someone to listen, and that's gotta be better than the alternative lol. Finding actual positives might be a step too far. Good post, though

Thanks for starting this post Yes we do have to get our big girl pants on and soldier on...try another AI if SE cause problemsPositivesWe are very lucky to have available at a low cost a group of drugs that are beneficial to BC hormone positive patients.The majority of us will have minor side effects and continue to take these drugs for many years.For those who have been given AI therapy before sugery to shrink tumours perh aps have been given the option of having a lumpectomy instead of mastectomy For me AIs have allowed me a high quality of life as a metastatic patientDiagnosed with DCIS and no node involvement the cancer did metastise to my lungs .(4years later).as I opted for mastectomy ther was no need to have chemo radiation and AI is not recomened if there is no node involvementno tests yet can detect the micro cancer stage as it travels to lurk in parts of our bodyBut what BC patients with node involvement have is the AI option ...for some of you the cancer has travelled and is hibernating and AI hopefully will keep it in hibernationYes luck for me so far ...AI have shrunk the lung nodes ...its now 2 YEARS on Femara ..my scans are this week so i will be posting next week if Femara letrozole is not working I will be switched to another AI All the best with your individual therapyBright in hope

@Joannie - you are definitely not alone on the forum or invisible/ignored - only 4 of your posts have had less than 10 comments - and none of them have no replies. Some posts have been started many times by many people as well, so using the search button may get answers re side effects of specific drugs/treatments from previous posts and putting a reply there will bring that thread back to the fore for other newbies to jump onto again.I have been on fishing forums for 15+ years and am well known in kayak fishing circles - and my posts can have thousands of 'looks' - yet only 10+ comments. Most fishing forums do NOT have 'like or dislike' buttons either - so you just know people have read the posts & not bothered replying. I've always found this to be disappointing but not disturbing .... I then realise that I don't always reply to every post that I look at either. ;) We mustn't take this personally or it can do your head in. We are lucky on BCNA to have the 'Like Awesome LOL' buttons .... cos if you add the number of Likes etc to the number of replies, that increases the 'responses' markedly! ;) Personally, I reckon we need at least one more button, a 'compassionate' face - to indicate that we 'feel' for the person or are 'with them' going thru the hard bits when we may not be up to adding written response, especially where the 'Like Awesome & LOL' buttons just aren't appropriate to the conversation. Hence, NO response is left at all. :( @Giovanna_BCNA .... can we consider a 'new button' to indicate compassion/understanding, where Like, Awesome & LOL just aren't appropriate as a button response to a post? (Not necessarily a 'Sad/sorry' face ..... Maybe like this one or something similar? :/ )Take care out there everyone xxx

@Joanie I did not need chemo and I have put radiation in the gun cabinet to use next time. I was advised to take letrazole and for reasons of my own choosing, declined.I found my breast cancer diagnosis confronting and difficult and very isolating. Not only in a physical setting ( I am very remote) but also emotionally. Not a day goes by do I question whether I have made a good decision. I had / have no one to have a good "wongi" about it with. And the anger I experienced that came with the diagnosis coloured my view of my world and my thoughts of others.However the warmth and advice I have received on our bcna site has reassured me that I am not an orphan in my thoughts and feelings. Like a lot of women members of bcna I find that my circle of friends in my small community think that I should be "over it". Are we ever "over it"?I read every discussion topic and post. There is always something to be gained from them. One of my gripes is the expectation from my community that I be "positive" and "strong". How do they think I have got this far? At least on this site I can think, feel and express exactly what I am experiencing.I do not always receive a response / reply to my posts but I feel comforted that they have been read.Please take care and warmest thoughts.Annie

Can we think of any positives of being on Hormone Therapy?

50 Replies

Zoffiel
Member
8 years ago
That 15 minutes between 'feelings at the time' and 'there forever' can be a bugger @joannie . I still feel that a 'chat' option may be the way to solve some of the issues of feeling like crap and wanting to express it without the uninitiated finding a minute by minute, blow by blow description of any aspect of treatment when they google. If that chat thread didn't have any notifications it would be easier to focus on the things that are of immediate importance to members. Mxx
Anonymous
8 years ago
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Kiwi_Angel
Member
8 years ago
@Joannie - I think we all have things that get to us and should be welcome to moan xoxoxox
Anonymous
8 years ago
The user and all related content has been deleted.
Kiwi_Angel
Member
8 years ago
@Joannie u r definitely not on your own. We are all here to support each other and we are all in different stages of our journey and have different fears and anxieties. I myself have learnt to scroll past posts that aren’t relevant to me or that I don’t agree with - I find that keeps me sane. Sending u huge hugs and I appreciate your support yesterday. Xoxo
Anonymous
8 years ago
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melclarity
Member
8 years ago
@Joannie I think we have to remember also that not everyone suffers side effects from the medications. I have for a long time been a part of this Forum, to give, because I had very little support when I was in the thick of it. So for me helping others coming behind has been a way of helping in some small way, for others to not feel so alone. Its only through sharing our experiences can we all help support one another. I am lucky to be 3yrs clear now and its been a damn hard road, the thing is nobody really truly knows the depth of each others paths. I do have side effects but honestly they are manageable on a bad day with panadol osteo and my ever increasing activity :)
Anonymous
8 years ago
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MoiraC
Member
8 years ago
Hi @Joannie - thanks for raising this. I have found a lot of support from this network but I agree sometimes it is hard. I am really glad I have the chance to have hormone therapy - there are many other women who it just won't help. I think it is really important to remember that everyone responds some what differently to treatment options and one woman's experience isn't necesarily anothers - I guess I feel this is really important for those beginning the journey and those well into it to remember. Wishing you well Moirac
Anonymous
8 years ago
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Can we think of any positives of being on Hormone Therapy?

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