It’s only when
you start to feel better that you realise you weren’t quite on form. I’m better
able to cope with later evenings (for ages I was in bed by 9pm!) and it’s only
very occasionally that I need to fit in an afternoon nap! The prescription iron
is clearing kicking in and having the desired effect together with a slightly lighter
period this month on the ibuprofen and Mefenamic acid.
I was somewhat
anxious that I would be going away on holiday not feeling on form and with the
stress of a disruptive menstruation, fingers crossed things will be more
manageable going forward.
Tamoxifen was a major headline in the BBC news yesterday. I had wrongly thought that the drug was already given as a preventative therapy for women at high risk of breast cancer, maybe this was only in the USA? Great news that it is now being given the go ahead to be used in the UK as an alternative to drastic surgery. It gives a reduction in risk of around 40% so there is still a lot to consider for those at high risk, given a double mastectomy gives a 95% reduction in risk of developing breast cancer. And of course it comes with side effects, although the hot flushes are not something that I really experience but for many women it’s a real issue. There is also increased risk of blood clots (must remember to get my flight socks out ready!) and effects on endometrium and menstrual cycles.
Genetics
appointment on Tuesday with the counseling nurse, not sure what this will
involve but I hope it will be informative and provide some reassurance for my
daughters for the future.
On Sunday I shall be putting on the running shoes and joining hundreds of other women in a sea of pink for the 5k Race For Life. I knew no one affected by cancer when I ran my first race a few years ago. This will be my fourth race in ten years and I have a list of names to write on the sheet to pin on my back “I race for life for…” including myself. Everyone has been incredibly generous with fund raising in the past, including last year when I raised £650 for our local CLAN (Cancer Link Aberdeen & North) just a few weeks before my own diagnosis. I will not be raising money in this race. I have made a personal donation and I will simply Race For Life in celebration of my own life, in celebration of those family and friends who have been successfully treated for their own cancer, in memory of the ones who have been taken away from us by this awful disease and for the strong people we know who are still undergoing treatment. Marking a year since my own journey began, the event is bound to bring a day of mixed emotions.