http://www.oncologynurseadvisor.com/one-quarter-of-patients-do-not-complete-recommended-breast-cancer-treatment/article/290919/
Interesting article on non compliance with estrogen therapy after breast cancer diagnosis in early stage breast cancer. I should add here that the standard treatment is one pill daily for FIVE years!
Joint pain is ranked as the number one reason why women quit adjuvant (I can’t even spell it) therapy. Thats the pill form of chemo that they give to women that are usually positive for both Estrogen and Progesterone of which, I am both. They say its the easiest cancer to cure in women if caught early enough. It is also likely to reoccur, and the article says the main reason cancer patients continue on with treatment is that they feel the cancer is going to come back. Ug! I don’t want to think this way.
If any of you have read my blog from the beginning, you have read about my experience with Arimidex….which was not pleasant. It was filled with many side effects for me. I quit the therapy after nine weeks. If it can work for you, it probably gives you some good insurance if you want to risk quality of life for 8 percent continued life not coming back cancer. No body wants this stuff back.
I guess I am not the only one that quit. It looks like 25 percent of early stage cancer patients quit the therapy. Its a percentages game. The doctor said I had about a 75 percent chance of not getting it again without any additional treatment. Add the Arimidex to that and my chances increased 8 percent or so. That would be an 82 percent chance or so that I will not get a reoccurrence. I said, well I had the mastectomy so the cancer is physically gone….so how could I get a reocurrence? Well it goes somewhere else in your body. Well now I say, how can it do that when its gone. WELL..it is never really gone I guess. It grows in your fat cells. Which we all have plenty of.
It is very important to lose weight, if you are over weight and get breast cancer. Losing all the extra weight, eliminating every fat cell that you can. A lifelong commitment. What a motivator. What an option.
Its like you have to learn biology to stay alive. Chances, percentages, months, years…blah blah. After awhile you just don’t want to hear about it. You want to recover and get on with your life. Even if you had early stage cancer no one will let you get on with your life because they are all busy worrying it is going to come back.
There comes a time when the nonsense has to stop…when the insanity needs to be quiet.
Is it no wonder cancer patients turn to yoga, meditation and other means of tuning out the world because the insanity is always lurking like the grim reaper behind the front door.
As for me, I started tamoxifen this week. We will see how that goes. If I don’t have to much problem, I will take it. At least this drug prevents osteoporosis instead of causing it like ‘other’ meds. But its known to cause blood clots. I have already had one surgery since September to remove blood clots. Gee, what are the odds??
The whole pink thing is a nightmare. I seen this picture of Jack Nicholson’s face on a tee shirt from when he stared in The Shining movie. I told people I needed that shirt. That is what I think cancer looks like…its hidden in the maze somewhere and its out to get you.
Beware of spooks!
