How to prioritise self care?
So self care is the mantra in survivorship right? I need to do gym three times a week for the weight bearing exercises to stave off the bone damage of Letrozole. Haven't managed to work that into my schedule since early last December. On the days when I'm not at the gym I have to walk because minimum of 30 mins a day exercise, preferably an hour. I have to bust stress, of which I have an excess. So I'm starting a yoga class on Saturday morning. Can't use food and booze to stress bust anymore. I have to sort out my head, get rid of the depression, manage the anxiety, so it's a psychologist appointment every two or three weeks. She wants me to journal. I struggle to find the time. She also wants me to spend 30 minutes a day doing something I enjoy, just for me. I saw my dietician today about my failure to knuckle down and lose weight. My willpower is rubbish and as you know, it's like rolling a boulder up a hill trying to lose weight in menopause on an AI. Have to eat a low sat fat diet because of the Letrozole cholesterol issues. I have to cook most days of the week for a vegetarian, three meat-eating teenagers and a Type 2 diabetes octogenarian. There's also the assorted ongoing medical appointments that seem to roll around with remarkable frequency. This afternoon on my way home from the dietician in Town, I received a phone call from my son saying my daughter was vomiting, a lot. She was already home with extreme tiredness and what she described as stress from the overwhelming amount of schoolwork she has (Yr 10). Of course it could be just that, or glandular fever, but my mind goes straight to cancer. Lymphoma probably... I also get an email from school about my nephew (Yr 8) He's got yet another detention after being given several warnings to rein in his classroom behaviour. The teacher is "beginning to wonder if he has impulse control issues". My son, starting uni next week, has done nothing whatsoever about learning to drive or getting a job and has zero money. How does he think he is going to pay for his day to day uni life? He's been sitting in his room playing computer games and watching anime since November. From the beginning of January I've made him cook dinner once a week. My niece continues to be the most difficult of them all. Almost continually rude, refuses simple requests, sulky, terrible sleep issues & much more. So to properly deal with each one of those issues takes buckets of time and buckets of money. GP appointments, specialist child psychologists and who knows what else. About to take vomiting daughter to the doctor now. My self care, if done properly, would take buckets of time and buckets of money. There are no buckets here. If there's a choice I have to prioritise the kids. Any prioritising of myself is already accompanied by massive guilt. I am really struggling to arrange my survivorship life. And that's even before I start trying to find and then hopefully get a job. How does everyone do this? How do I recover fully and lead a healthier, engaged life in survivorship, and take care of everyone else, have a satisfying relationship with my partner, a job, maintain contact with my friends, keep fit, lose weight, not be stressed and feel OKish about everything? Is it actually possible to do at all? Yours from the House of Bad Behaviour and Vomit, K
new bone lesions....help whats next for me
Hi all, I thought I was off this merry go round that is cancer. I've just been diagnosed with METS on 2 ribs(one each side), humeral head, scapula and a also in pelvic bone. I originally thought it was only in the 2 ribs which were discovered via a bone scan and then a follow up MRI. I elected to pay the exhorbitant fee for the PET scan and my breast surgeon has just called tonight to tell me it's in the places other than ribs. He has said they are only tiny spots. At my oncologist appt the week before xmas (when all i had was the 2 rib mets) the game plan was shit hot drugs as she called them - letrozole and ribociclib, then a massive single dose of radiation to the ribs. Now, I'm not sure what next step will be seeing as though its in different spots. She did tell me at my last appt not to google but to come in here so here I am. Sorry, this is really rambling. I am absolutely shit scared, I have 2 kids who are young teenagers and have recently divorced my partner, long story but he couldn't cope with my ongoing medical issues as cancer was 95% caused by me according to him and I couldn't live with the ongoing guilt. Now I'm in limbo land with everything. <My oncologist is away until mid Jan when I have my next review. Hoping for any words of wisdom, the letrozole is absolutely killing my joints in my feet particularly and I haven't even started the ribociclib and won't until the review with her. Thanks in advance xoxox
Letrozole side effects
Last monday at the age of 52 i started my daily dose of Letrozole. Fast forward 7 days and i feel like ive aged 30 years. Every bone & joint hurts, even bones in my face hurt ! My Oncologist said she was concerned i may not do well on letrozole given my pain in recent months (none of which i had before BC). Should I stop? Will it get better or worse. Cant sit on the loo without screeching from pain in my knees. I want my old self back and i want it now š”Letrozole, insomnia, CBD oil
Hi everyone, This is my first post. I am struggling with weight gain, insomnia, bloated feeling, low mood and joint pain. my breast surgeon has changed me from tamoxifen then letrozole now I have a script for anatrozole. i have tried cbd oil for insomnia as well as temazapan, melatonin, phenergan. i would love some advice, feedback from others struggling, thankyou
What's new with Kath
Warning...long post ahead with much whinging I've been struggling the past 6 months. I have developed bilateral bursitis of both shoulders...for no apparent reason. Initially it was tight with restricted movement and occasional pain in certain positions. No problem...a steroid injection will fix it. But it didn't. Within a month I had less movement and pain so bad I couldn't sleep as I couldn't lie on my shoulders. I would wake up every 20 minutes in agony. I felt unwell. Chronically fatigued and struggling to do my job. If I didn't go to the pool and do some water arm exercises I could barely move at all. Terrified of metasteses I discussed this with my GP. Blood tests done showed only a raised ESR. (Inflammation) He couldn't order anything under medicare but another ultrasound which again showed bursisits. I wanted a MRI. Recommended I see my oncologist. Too busy they said in February. Contacted the breast surgeon...nope GP can deal with this. Breast care nurse here had no pull. Breast care nurse in Adelaide suggested I try no letrozole and see. My head goes...too scared to try this in case it is metasteses and it grows quicker. So by March I'm seeing a rheumatologist. He listened. He was worried it is an inflammatory response. He sends me for a bone scan and an MRI (300k away) to exclude anything more sinister and was angry it hadn't been done already. His verdict is possible polymyalgia rheumatica...which means inflammation of several joints...no known reason. So meanwhile I had 3 cancelled oncology appointments despite talking to cancer care coordinator about the issues and my last visit to breast surgeon (in Setember) was just suture removal not a bloody review...and they'd cancelled my January appointment as I'd seen him. Uuugh. So I get a call 2 weeks ago...we've made you a face to face appointment with the oncologist. The time was changed 3 times that week. So I see him last Monday. He listened. I cried. I told about my ongoing fatigue. My whole body restricted movement which I was coping with up until the bloody shoulders. My general feeling of being not right and my genuine fear I had metasteses but...bone scan was ok (thank goodness) So he wanted me on painkillers. ..which concerned me as panadol makes me tired. Quality of life he says. Then drops the bombshell...since you'll be on AI another 7 years..what?..all along they've kept saying 5 as no nodes...but now saying emerging results still recommend I do 10. My coping...was knowing I've only had 2 more years...but bloody 7. So More tears. I then explained how much restrictions /pain /stiffness I had. No...I didn't whinge much before (always said its doable and was better than initially) but with the shoulder issue it's now just too much. His physical exam was much more intense than before including liver and abdo area...I'm sure I haven't had this before. Sooo...I'm on a letrozole break to figure out whats drug related, whats age related or just bursisits. 3 days free and I can stand up from bed and walk normally. I can step down a step. My hands can rotate. Bloody marvellous. The plan now is too see what else improves and try a different AI. So even prior the break...I am sleeping better. My shoulder pain is less after resting since March any upper body exercise other than controlled stuff set by physio. I'm not feeling quite as fatigued. I really wonder if I do have another bloody autoimmune thing happening. Anyways...life goes on. Kath x
Metastatic Breast Cancer & avoiding weight gain while on Letrozole ?
Metastatic Breast Cancer & avoiding weight gain while on Letrozole. Is it possible ? Has anyone been successful in losing weight that was gained while taking Letrozole ? What have you find helpful ? I have only met two other women with metastaic breast cancer who are also talking Letrozole and their response to my question was to just accept the wieght gain ( especialy around abdomen ) and " nothing you can do about " . I am grateful to be alive but the weiight gain and other side efects from Letrozole are negatively affecting my mental health and quality of life .Letrazole side effects
Does any of this sound familiar? I have aching legs, they feel tired and weak. The muscles feel tight when I wake up in the morning. I haven't done any extreme exercise, although it feels like I have. Could this be a side effect of Letrazole? I've been on it since December. I hadn't noticed this until last few weeks. I'm seeing my Oncologist in July and will ask him too. I'm 62 and I'm starting to wonder if it is age, as a problem, but I have my doubts. I don't feel unwell otherwise.
