Boobs On Ice™

Arimidex Bites the Dust as a Brain Fog Excuse

2009-06-11T11:00:00-04:00

In September 2007 I had a small stroke, so sometimes I can blame my kind of spotty memory on that. Fibromyalgia syndrome, a chronic illness I've had for over a decade, is famous for causing brain fog, so that's a handy excuse too. Other days I say it's because I had four kids. All my brain cells exploded out my head during their teen years.

Then take my husband. But that's an old joke.

In any case you can only use the same reason so many times. So about six months ago I tried adding a new excuse for my brain drain.

I started taking Arimidex, an anti-tumor medication that sucks up every tiny bit of estrogen left in my body, with the hope of keeping those pesky invasive cancer cells from growing. Arimidex comes with a list of side effects that "should be expected" that's as long as my arm.

I'm not getting any cooperation from the researchers when it comes to pointing fingers, however.

"BRIGHTON, England, Sept. 3 In postmenopausal women at high risk for breast cancer, two years of prophylaxis with an aromatase inhibitor did not lead to cognitive impairment, according a placebo-controlled study.

"Scores on tests of cognitive function did not differ at any time point between patients treated for 24 months with anastrozole (Arimidex) or placebo, Valerie A. Jenkins, D.Phil., of the University of Sussex, and colleagues reported online in Lancet Oncology.

"Similar numbers of patients in each group reported changes in memory after six months, and the number of affected patients decreased to a handful by the end of the study."

Great. I don't remember this story tomorrow I can't blame taking Arimidex. We're back to my poor unsuspecting children.

Bonds Build Lives - the Joy of Days

2009-06-10T20:19:04-04:00

I was talking with my son Ryan today. We talked about how much being involved with the grandson he'll add to the family in August is important to me. We're talking about ways to make those connections happen before baby Reily gifts us with his presence.

Not many people know that I'll do pretty much anything to keep from talking about anything that's important but hurtful to me. I've got walls ten feet high and a foot thick. But it's just a reality that has to be faced that since I've gotten cancer I have little interaction with my two granddaughters who live close by.

My son though lives a long way away and spent a long time overseas. We have not lived close to each others for almost a decade but even without being a parent he seems on some level to understand what a deep connection I feel for my children. And he somehow knows that his that soon to be born little boy of his presents an opportunity for joy which will add years to my life. . . or maybe he just believes that I believe it.

Even as I'm able to walk less, I want to see Reily learn to walk. I look forward to him crawling ot toddling to me, then up in my lap for a cuddle and a giggle. I want to play cars on the floor. I even want to hear his mom and dad tell us we can't make ALL the cereal boxes in the house into buildings for our town.

Yes, I admit that those things are probably more important to me because I do have cancer. I do have less years in my future than I thought I would. I'm told it's not likely that I'll go to a grandchild's high school graduation.

But there are days that I CAN enjoy that mean more than I would have understood they would. And maybe the days and the connections we somehow build will mean more to the children if they know how much joy it brings to nana. I can pray. And I can tell them over and over how much it means to me.

Lost to Heaven: Another Mother with Cancer

2009-06-10T16:00:36-04:00

We've lost another of our Cancer Sisterhood, April who wrote the blog One Mother with Cancer April dealt with her cancer, treatment, relapse, etc with grace and a smile.

Why twitter?

2009-04-28T18:09:10-04:00