I had my regular appointment with the oncologist and we made the decision that I am going to stop taking the Arimidex (check out the miserable side affects). I will have some blood work done to check my liver function (connected to all the Advil I take), blood count (for the fatigue and possible anemia) and, since I have lost 23 pounds and am eating healthy, my cholesterol to see if it has gone down (yet another side affect of the medication). I will be off mediation for the cancer for 30 days to see if I see an improvement in my all around joint pain and movement. After the 30 days I am suppose to start taking a different medication, Tamoxifen (the drug of choice before Arimidex came out). According to my doctor Tamoxifen is not suppose to have the miserable side affects like the Arimidex, but the information available on the web does not really support that notion. One major side is it has been associated with causing blood clots/stroke (which in my way of thinking would be WORSE than getting cancer again). Another is uterine cancer, but I do not have my uterus. I will wait and see how I feel in 30 days and then make the decision if I want to take any medication at all. Difficult decision to make, but I want to have a better quality of life than I am having right now. I suppose the worse thing that could happen if I don't take any medication is getting cancer in the other breast or again in the same breast and then I could have them surgically removed. That sounds better to me than having a fricking STROKE! Like I said, difficult decision to make and any input will be graciously accepted.
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