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← Return to SERMs and AIs - Choosing not to take them
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SERMs and AIs - Choosing not to take them
Breast Cancer | Last Active: Aug 29, 2019 | Replies (20)Comment receiving replies
YOU are in charge of your healthcare. Your physicians are your advisors, but the final decisions about what medications you take is up to you. That being said... and I can only speak for myself, I was diagnosed following a routine mammogram like many of us here. They found a suspicious growth, then did a biopsy to diagnosis cancer. Following diagnosis, I did my research and sought out the very best oncologist and health care professionals I could find in my area. I asked lots of questions, researched on line, and talked to my trusted gynecologist and physicians that I’d been seeing for years. When I made my decision on a breast cancer specialist, I was certain I am seeing an oncologist who is an expert and knows her stuff!! I am very open and honest with her about how I feel both physically and emotionally. She listens to me and offers her professional views, opinions, and advise about treatment. She leaves the final decisions up to me. I don’t like the side effects, I certainly don’t enjoy taking a bunch of meds that cause me not to feel my best self. But I think I’d be a total FOOL not to listen to and follow her professional advise. Nobody gets out of this life alive...I’ll learn to live with the side effects rather than the risk of cancer returning.
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I followed much the same path. My oncologist came recommended by gynecologists (who happen to be my best friends) and by friends who had worked with him during their surgeries. I am confident that he's got my best interest in mind. If I wasn't dealing with both a history of blood clots and heart issues, He understood that my cardiologist wasn't comfortable with radiation and agreed with him, so a lumpectomy was ruled out.
The side effects I might be able to deal with but those, combined with my history and existing health concerns, have me leaning toward forgoing these drugs. Bone loss, heart issues, and blood clots are just too scary. Tuesday my husband and I sit down with the doctor. If the chances of reccurence aren't high, I'm going to decline. I agree that no one gets out alive, but I want my final years to be as good as they can be.
My mother was diagnosed at the same age I am (68). She had a mastectomy, no radiation or chemotherapy, and no long term therapy. I'm not sure that was even an option 34 years ago. She lived well for 20 more years and didn't have cancer when we lost her.
Unless the doctor can offer a compelling argument and after a second consultation with my gynecologists/friends, I'm leaning toward refusing a SERM or AI.
Can I ask what you take, how long you've been on it, and what the side effects are? Learning more about what to expect from real people will help me make a decision. Thanks much.