Quick Update

Things are still rolling along.

I'm doing well enough on the Tamoxifen that we are going to start the "chemical menopause" in the form of monthly injections of ZOLADEX starting Friday. 

The general concept of this did not trouble me.  Between the fertility stuff I did at the start of my cancer adventures (giving myself up to 3 shots a day in the stomach...), the chemo, the Neulasta shots after chemo, and all the other pokes and blood draws this past year, I feel like I've become pretty accustomed to needles.  So much so, in fact, that I asked Dr. Chui if I could just get the shots and give them to myself at home.  No such luck, and not just because of insurance, but because this isn't just a simple shot!  Oh no, this involves being numbed FIRST (presumably with shots although we didn't get into that) and then the injection of an IMPLANT under my skin.

See A VIDEO HERE if you are interested.  I'm sure it won't be as bad as my imagination is making it out to be, but it's a bit more involved than I thought.  We'll see how I do Friday afternoon at 4:30.  Maybe G can be there to video tape me as I pass out!

The only arguable set back at this point is that I am showing signs of LYMPHEDEMA in my left arm.  So that's a bummer.  I have my first physical therapy appointment on Friday before my first injection.  Presumably I'll learn some stretches and also how to manually drain the lymphatic fluid from my arm.  The worst part about all of this is that, when I first started noticing these twinges G was insistent that I call/email Dr. Chui and I kept saying I had my appointment in June and I'd just see him then.  The first thing Dr. Chui said to me?  "You should have contacted me right away when this started."

Nothing is worse than G being right.

I do try to balance reaching out to Dr. Chui--I don't want to be a pest and email him every time I feel kind of funky.  But I guess I should have contacted him in this case.

G was right.  Just don't tell him that.