Go Forth...and live your life!
Hi Everyone, It has been a LONG time since I have been back online. The past few months have been one hell of a road trip indeed. The months away have been spent, trying to get through numerou...
Forum Discussion
Hi @LoisLois,
I am at the other end of the 7 years of hormone therapy. I didn’t have any other health issues to deal with and while chemo and radiation were not easy, I certainly didn’t have as tough a time as you have had with active treatment.
I started off on Tamoxifen for 2 years, then had my ovaries removed and switched to Femara, then when side effects got too much after 3 years of that, my oncologist changed me back to Tamoxifen. I think it really helped that my oncologist always listened to my list of side effects, explained the difference that hormone therapy might make to my chance of recurrence, but made decisions to change things when she could see the balance was getting out of wack. The balance between chance of cancer recurrence benefits vs other health issues and quality of life is important.
I am at the other end of the 7 years of hormone therapy. I didn’t have any other health issues to deal with and while chemo and radiation were not easy, I certainly didn’t have as tough a time as you have had with active treatment.
I started off on Tamoxifen for 2 years, then had my ovaries removed and switched to Femara, then when side effects got too much after 3 years of that, my oncologist changed me back to Tamoxifen. I think it really helped that my oncologist always listened to my list of side effects, explained the difference that hormone therapy might make to my chance of recurrence, but made decisions to change things when she could see the balance was getting out of wack. The balance between chance of cancer recurrence benefits vs other health issues and quality of life is important.
Originally the aim for me was 10 years of hormone therapy but my oncologist called it enough when I saw her a few weeks ago. I am glad that I got through those 7 years for my chance of recurrence and really glad that I had an oncologist who looked at that recurrence vs quality of life balance. You can always give it a go and see how you tolerate it and how it effects your other health issues. A good oncologist should be able to make changes to keep that balance right for your situation. You can only do what your unique situation allows. Wishing you the best of luck with whatever works out to be the best for you. Take care.
Deanne x
Deanne x