Going back to the chemo Dr today sure brought back all the horrible chemo memories. It almost made me cry. The nurses remembered me which was nice, we had a nice little chat. I felt so bad for all the people in that room, going through what I’ve already been through, and in some cases worse. Waiting to check in for my appointment, there was a woman there with an ice cream bucket lined with plastic. I followed her down to the chemo floor and she was in rough shape. She’s got the side effect I’m glad I never had.
The Dr put me on Tamoxifen. I’m going to be on it for 2 years. If at that time, my period doesn’t come back, then he’ll switch me to Arimidex for another 3 years. 2 years is the timeline/guideline for actually being post-menopausal and Arimidex won’t work for pre-menopause. It is suggested that I take them in the morning with food to combat nausea and not increase the night sweats. Guess they’ll be sitting by my computer so I remember to take them. It’s a little unnerving taking a pill every day that carries the warning: Do not handle if pregnant or breastfeeding.
So my sister was right. And so was I. My nails lifting is from the chemo and only the part that was affected is lifting, or being pushed out. I also got better clarification on my ‘sunburn’ and why it’s so much worse under my arm. And instead of saying it’s going to keep acting like it’s being radiated for 2 weeks (radiation Dr) he said it peaks a week or 2 after the radiation is done, that’s when it’s the worst. He also looked at a lump I have where my last IV was. He made me wiggle my finger and stuff, says it’s ‘like scar tissue’ and should go away. The radiation Dr just said it was (insert big medical term here) and because of my age she wasn’t even going to look at it, which she didn’t. The chemo Dr seems to take the time with me and make sure I understand things rather than rushing me out the door which I sure appreciate.