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Is getting a CT scan & bone scan standard for early breast cancer?

Breast Cancer | Last Active: May 11, 2023 | Replies (33)
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@californiazebra

Hi @anjalima -- I am tolerating Kisqali well. I've been on it for 27 months now and don't intend to stop. It seems to be working. When I first took 600 mg, that was a problem. Be sure they do an EKG after the first week to check for QT prolongation which is a serious cardiac side effect. Only 4% of women get it, but I was one of them. So we had to stop Kisqali for a couple weeks until everything went back to normal and then I started on 400 mg and QT didn't happen again. I started taking Kisqali and Letrozole at the same time. Fatigue, hair thinning, constipation (improved over time), low blood pressure and heart rate. Now joint pain my oncologist thinks is from the letrozole. I also had an issue for a few months with a very itchy rash that lingered if I was in the sun even briefly. My dermatologist thought it was the letrozole. I've never done chemo, but I'm betting Kisqali/Letrozole is way easier to tolerate. 25 months ago, I added Octreotide injections for my neuroendocrine lung cancer so that just piled on and made some side effects worse. Hard to assign blame when you're taking multiple meds. Good luck! It's worth it!

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Replies to "Hi @anjalima -- I am tolerating Kisqali well. I've been on it for 27 months now..."
anjalima | @anjalima | May 7, 2023

I love your upbeat attitude and doing “ what it takes” to regain your health.

I appreciate all the information and warnings that you shared. Thank you.

I’ve been on AROMATASE for one year… I have the added joint stiffness and discomfort until I get moving; yoga really helps and walking/hiking. I’m a huge outdoor enthusiast including skiing ⛷ at 72. I definitely had some initial hair thinning … which also could have been from my two surgeries; hair follicles don’t like anesthesia. Now it’s normal. My one year DEXA showed basically no change so that was good but we will keep monitoring bone density. I have good density now. I feel like the AI keeps me safe as I was 98-99% ER + so I’ll take whatever the side effects over BC!

I was under the impression that Kisquali caused diarrhea vs constipation. But everyone has their own unique response to meds.

So happy that you are tolerating a med that has been so helpful to you! Thank you for taking the time to answer my question. 🌸

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anjalima | @anjalima | May 7, 2023

Have you heard about Signatera? It’s a tumor analysis for DNA signature and then they draw a blood sample to determine any circulating tumor DNA. Also called a blood biopsy.

Another new technology is our arsenal! Yay science!

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