Hi Toni
I have been on Zometa. In Jan 06 my upper left arm broke unexpectdly. Turns out it was due to a met from kidney cancer. I also had mets in both lungs, ribs, and spine. I did not have any pain. After surgery to remove kidney and repair arm and radiation to arm, I went on Nexavar (targeted drug for kidney cancer). By April 07 my lung mets were much better, but my left arm needed another surgery to remove more bone as the tumor was growing again.
I had a complete dental checkup in anticipation of zometa. Turns out I needed either a root canal or an extraction. To speed the process, I chose exctraction. I waited 30 days and got an all clear from the dentist and went on Zometa. Due to concern for my one remaining kidney, my creatine was closely watched. I took 5 zometa treatments at 4 week intervals. Some treatments were 3.5 mg and some were 4.0 mg, as determined by creatine. No obvious side effects. Based on CT scans my bone mets were showing signs of healings. Before the 6th treatment I had some gum tissue at the site of the extraction, fall out and expose jaw bone. I had no pain. I stopped zometa and 6 months later a small piece of jaw bone fell out and my gum began to heal. The oral surgeon was not sure if the problem was due to incomplete healing or was a little bit of osteonicrose of the jaw.
By Feb 09, the oral surgeon thought I could again try zometa. I had 3 treatments at 6 week intervals of 3.5 mg. Bone mets looked better, but I developed an abcess in another tooth (probably unrelated to zometa). I stopped zometa for 12 weeks and had another extraction last week. Luckly the two extractions were opposite each other and were the furthest back molars on my right side.
My lung mets are much smaller (am currently on Sutent) than they were in Jan 06 and I am looking further out, so I probably will try zometa or another bisphosponate again next year.
I am sorry for such a long answer, but more info is better than less.
walking Jim