Still going strong!

Yes, I am still here, still ticking along.

It's been too long since writing but life gets in the way rather! 

I thought I had better check in though. I don't know if you read many other blogs, but so many of them end far too soon and you never know whether the person is alright or not.

So, what's been happening? Loads really, but I am happy to report that my health is good and there is nothing of any major significance to report.

I have had a change of medication which started this week. I have ditched the dreaded Tamoxifen in favour of Zoladex, which is a complete oestrogen blocker. Essentially, the tamoxifen (and chemo prior to that) hasn't sent me into menopause and a blood test confirmed that my body is still producing oestrogen. As you'll no doubt remember, this is bad if there is any part of my body that feels the need to turn into cancerous cells, as my tumours were both oestrogen and HER2 positive.

So, on Tuesday I had my first Zoladex implant, which is essentially a big injection that leaves a foam implant under my skin, and this is a slow release blocker over 4 weeks. The idea is to have these 4 weekly for 3 months to see how I respond, then we can go for a 6 monthly one.

The worry with Zoladex is that we are meant to have oestrogen in our systems for a reason, so there is a risk of osteoporosis and a few other things that I won't bore you with.

I have asked about ovary removal, as I can't really see the point of more drugs, but my team of advisors are not too keen at this stage. 

Well, I can see the point. It's about trying to make sure I don't get cancer again, but you know what I mean. Surely it's better just to remove everything and be done with it? I suspect that there's a conversation to be had later in the year. I am still having a few gynae issues, so will be seeing the relevant consultant in July. Annoyingly, I doubt that the gynae issues will be completely solved with the Zoladex, so I don't quite know what will happen on that front.

When it came to it, whether or not I ought to artificially induce the menopause was a pretty easy question to answer. Since I last wrote, one of the lovely ladies who I have met through the Younger Women's BC support network has been diagnosed with metatastic cancer, which has spread and is incurable. She also has two young children. 

Friends of ours have also lost close friends to cancer. One to bowel cancer, and another to lung cancer. 

I count myself bloody lucky that I have the ability to take anything at all. Okay, so I am also scared that my consultants think it's serious enough I ought to be offered Zoladex, but I am still grateful. Remind me of this when I am suffering with hot flushes and have gained half a stone will you?

So. In other news, I am down to one day a week at work, I ran the London Marathon on 26th April, and by the time I have done a charity auction and held a couple of events to help with the fundraising, we will have raised £30,000 for cancer charities over the last 2.5 yrs. 

It is therefore, not all bad. My iPad is now struggling to cope with the typing as it doesn't get on with blogspot, so I will leave you in suspense for now, and ensure that I return tomorrow to tell you all about the marathon, which was fricking amazing!