Came home the same day and I'm on medical leave until further notice.
I am a emotional mess can't seam to get my self together. Lots of thoughts and things going on in my head. I now understand why I felt and though I was dying before I was diagnosed with cancer. My thyroid hormones were out of whack.
Symptoms of Hypothyroidism
- Fatigue
- Weakness
- Weight gain or increased difficulty losing weight
- Coarse, dry hair
- Dry, rough pale skin
- Hair loss
- Cold intolerance (you can't tolerate cold temperatures like those around you)
- Muscle cramps and frequent muscle aches
- Constipation
- Depression
- Irritability
- Memory loss
- Abnormal menstrual cycles
- Decreased libido
Each individual patient may have any number of these symptoms, and they will vary with the severity of the thyroid hormone deficiency and the length of time the body has been deprived of the proper amount of hormone.
And having very low Vitamin D it causes other problems too.
Vitamin D is an important vitamin that not only regulates calcium, but also has many other
beneficial actions. Not many endocrinologists realize this, but several articles published
over 20 years ago showed that patients with hypothyroidism have low levels of vitamin D.
This may lead to some of the bone problems related to hypothyroidism. It was thought that
one of two mechanisms may explain the low levels of vitamin D in patients with
hypothyroidism, 1) the low levels of vitamin D may be due to poor absorption of vitamin D
from the intestine or 2) the body may not activate vitamin D properly. Other articles have
demonstrated that patients with Graves disease also have low levels of Vitamin D.
Importantly, both vitamin D and thyroid hormone bind to similar receptors called steroid
hormone receptors. A different gene in the Vitamin D receptor was shown to predispose
people to autoimmune thyroid disease including Graves’ disease and Hashimoto’s
thyroiditis. For these reasons, it is important for patients with thyroid problems to
understand how the vitamin D system works. Vitamin D appears to have many effects besides being related to calcium and bone health.
Some patients with low vitamin D levels have fatigue and bone pain, which is easily
reversible with proper replacement of vitamin D. Vitamin D may protect against heart
disease and some types of cancer. Vitamin D may also have some role in regulating the
immune system and also reducing blood sugar levels in patients with diabetes. Proper
vitamin D levels are needed to prevent osteoporosis. In conclusion, proper vitamin D levels
are essential for one’s health, especially if you have thyroid problems. Unless a patient is
exposed to sunlight or foods containing vitamin D, screening for Vitamin D deficiency is
recommended for all thyroid patients.
This explains why I felt the way I did for so long. Please have your check ups and blood work done on a regular basis and have a mammogram done once a year. It is so very important.
After my lumpectomy they told me I was scheduled to have a balloon catheter placed in my right breast and this is how I would receive radiation. I would go and have radiation twice a day 6 hours apart for 5 days straight. They placed the catheter in on April 4th 2012 on a Wednesday in the office under local anesthesia, not very comfortable. Was painful! It's about 7 inches long with lots of wire probes sticking out of it.
External beam radiation for breast cancer treatment usually takes 5 to 7 weeks. A new kind of brachytherapy (internal beam radiation) takes only 5 to 7 days, with great effectiveness and fewer side effects. Read about balloon catheter radiation and how it may benefit you.
Breast Radiation After Lumpectomy
Radiation is often used to treat breast cancer after your tumor has been removed. If you've had breast-conserving surgery (sometimes called a "lumpectomy"), radiation may be recommended to ensure that cancer cells that may remain in the tumor area are destroyed. Since healthy cells as well as cancer cells in the radiation area will be affected, radiation oncologists have come up with some precise ways to zap your tissues and do the least harm.Balloon Catheter Up Close
Photo © Pam Stephan
Here is a close-up view of the balloon catheter device. "A" shows where the device can be connected during treatment. To the left of the gasket, the bundle of catheters hooks up with the catheters which are inside your breast. The external catheters will be disconnected after each treatment. "B" shows the outer ring of catheters -- these remain expanded during your complete treatment period (5 to 7 days). These catheters can be expanded to custom fit your lumpectomy cavity, to provide space between your tissues and the radioactive material. "C" shows the inner ring of catheters, which will carry the radioactive seeds, when the device is connected to the machine. These seeds are removed when you are not receiving treatment
The Radiation treatments started on the following Monday at 7:30 am for about 5 min. the next on same day at 3:00pm 5 min again. They gave me a cat scan before each treatment to be sure placement was correct. This was from April 9th till April 13th. They removed the device after the last treatment Friday the 13th and I was not in store for what happened next. The doctor removed it with out any pain relief or anesthesia. Just deflated the balloon, twisted it and yanked it out! OMG that was painful. I felt the blood rush from my face and gush out my breast. They said that was the easiest way??? The skin starts to grow over the device. That's why they twist it. Yikes!
Now we are talking Chemo. They want to wait 3 weeks after radiation to do Chemo because it causes other problems. I went back to work for a few weeks before i start chemo. I would like things to go back to normal. I'm tired and worn out from all the doctor stuff. I just want to go to sleep and wake up and it's all a bad dream. But it's not, it's my new reality. They tell me my hair will fall out and I will need a wig. I cried and cried. I have always wore my hair long. This bothers me more than the chunk taken out of my breast.
Chemo starts May the 15th 2012 at 9;00 AM. Then 24 hours later I have to take a shot to boost my white blood count. The shot has side affects too, bone pain, headaches. This will be done every other week for 4 weeks, then I have 12 weeks of another drug combo every week. 16 total weeks of chemo.
The drugs they give me for the first 4 treatments are called Doxorubicin Hydrochloride solution takes 10 min. drip, then Cyclophosphamide or also called the red devil makes you pee red for a day. 45min. drip.
They give you a drip of steriods and anti-nauesa meds for 10 min. Helps with nausea and inflammation.Then in 24 hours you come back and get the shot of Pegfilgrastim to boost white blood count. It has side affects too. Bone pain and headaches
This is where I am today: I'm on my second round of chemo. The side effects are horrendous. I will talk more on this in my next chapter " The side effects of chemo and will I survive "
Drugs for chemo : Doxorubicin also called Adriamycin. Conventional doxorubicin: Treatment (in combination with otherantineoplastic agents) of breast cancer.
Combination chemotherapy, as adjunct to surgery, increases disease-free (i.e., decreased recurrence) and overall survival in premenopausal and postmenopausal women with node-negative or -positive early (TNM stage I or II) breast cancer.
Adjuvant combination chemotherapy that includes cyclophosphamide,methotrexate, and fluorouracil has been used most extensively and is considered a regimen of choice for early breast cancer, but doxorubicin-containing regimens (e.g., combined cyclophosphamide and doxorubicin with or without fluorouracil; combined cyclophosphamide and doxorubicin with or without tamoxifen) appear to be comparably effective and also are considered regimens of choice; differences in toxicity profiles may influence choice of regimen.
In stage III (locally advanced) breast cancer, commonly employed effective regimens (with or without hormonal therapy) used sequentially after surgery and radiation therapy for operable disease and afterbiopsy and radiation therapy for inoperable disease include cyclophosphamide, methotrexate, and fluorouracil; cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, and fluorouracil; and cyclophosphamide, methotrexate, fluorouracil, and prednisone; combined cyclophosphamide and doxorubicin therapy also has been used. These and other regimens have been used in treatment of more advanced (stage IV) and recurrent disease.
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