Femara

Dorothyfaye, I think I should stop compaining after seeing what you are going through. My initial diagnosis & surgery was in 1983. I had 12 months of Tomaxifan,chemo but no radiation. About 5 years ago I had a chronic cough and my voice was going out. A CAT scan showed tumors in the thorax & biopsy showed that the breast cancer had returned. After MRI's, CAT's,& bone scans, tumors were in my vertebre, Adrenal gland and thorax area. During the 1st year on Femara the thorax tumors shrunk enough to allow my voice to return (somewhat), the back just disappeared, the Adrenal still exists and another has appeared in my right lung (but doc says it's quite small)Now I am in the 4th year of the Femara & there's little change except in my well being. He also has given me "Provigil" to help me with the sleepiness. (it helps) I am wondering if lowering the dosage on the Femara would work or even going off it for short periods would help. I am tempted to try that to see if the swelling goes away in my feet & the breathing problem stops too. Have you had a CAT since your surgery? I would suppose whatever is going on with your jaw might show up.Spending a week in Hawaii might help too!...Sue

Suzan, Amen to a week in Hawaii. I actually got to do that one time. I had had a pretty nasty tumor in my abdomen in 1974 and had a hard time healing from the hysterectomy. There had been a lot of infection before they operated so naturally it was going to take longer to get over it. I had two small children at the time. My mother lived in Kailua, Oahu, Hawaii and she sent for me. We had a month there with her. I healed up right away. It was wonderful! I don't see my oncologist until later in May. I do go off of Femara for days at a time and that seems to help with the side effects somewhat. I haven't told the doctor this yet. I have been having some real trouble with breathing, too. Like I can't expand my lungs enough to take in enough air. It gets quite alarming. But this past week I have been having palpataions and dizziness when I stand up. I am on some heavy duty heart meds and this worries me now. I intend to talk to my cardiologist next week about it. For now I've decided I'm not going to take any more Femara until my next visit in May. I want to see how much better I do get and if my heart settles down. No, I haven't had a CAT scan yet. My jaw pain has subsided, but like I say, I've been going off of the drug for a few days at a time...so don't know if that method is what did it or if I had an infection. I plan on asking for one when I go for my apointment next month. It's getttin so that every little pain or change in my body worries me. Tell me about your cancer, how and where did it start? When did it come back? I've been seeing a lot of people on this forum that have recurring cancer even on Arimidex and Femara... Dorothy B

Dorothyfaye, I wonder if your doctor ever looked for tumors in other areas of the body. My original breast surgery was in 1982 and I had scans of the bones, liver & lungs. When it returned in 2000 I had more scans, which is how they found it in my throat & did a biopsy. Since then I am tested every 6-12 months, watching the growth or shrinkage of the tumors. So the yucky Femara does some good obviously but, I'd like to take less of it if possible. I want to hear what your doctor has to say next month & I will ask mine when I see him next, hopeful that I can limit the medicine. Femara is a new drug & wasn't around when I first had surgery. It surprises me to hear that someone has cancer returning on the drug, because it would be very recent. I have heard that the return of breast cancer after many many years is not uncommon, but doesn't get reported much in the media. My initial treatment in '82 was tomoxifan & cytoxin but no radiation for about 1 year. I lost all of my hair, it wasn't a good year. My cancer is and was only on the right side and I think that is still the case for the most part.I know that I've read that Femara can cause heart problems, and that worries me, as I haven't had heart problems before. Well, take care, I'm going to play in my garden...the weather has be wonderful lately. Sue

Sue, So you still have both breast then? I had a bone scan done before the masectomy. They didn't find anything else. I had forgotten about that. Lately, my concentration is really bad, my memory is too and that scares me. I love to garden, too. I live in an apartment on the ground floor and have a tree and what I call a "dirt patch" out front. That keeps me going through all of this. We've had a lot of rain lately, but we need it badly, so the weather has been cool and a little too wet to play in the dirt. The past two years, I've learned to put things in pots. Are we allowed to contact each other by email...how does that work? Dorothy

Dorothy, I saw in your message that you said your memory doesn't seem as good as it was before. I didn't see it in your online message but if you had chemo at any point since your diagnosis, your memory "hiccups" are a result of the chemo. Many people at the various breast cancer survivor conferences I've attended call it "chemo brain". I don't know if the condition ever corrects itself after a person stops chemo but I know a lot of people that play mind games to help keep their mind sharp. Crossword puzzles, word finds, Kudoku, computer games, etc. You can also ask your oncologist or other survivors you may know what they do to combat this condition. Good luck. Fran