2020: Rollercoaster Ride

I had my first PET Scan of 2020 and the results indicated new activity. It was time to make a change to the treatment plan by adding the drug Kisqali. Drugs such as this are in a different class and often only available from a specialty pharmacy. This drug arrived out of state in a special package with a warning label all over the package. The instructions were very concerning - wear gloves when handling the medication and don't let anyone get it on their skin. I became anxious after learning side effects and thinking about how dangerous this must be if you can't even touch it.

I started the medication, afraid of nausea or any other side effect that may present itself. Things were going well until I reached day 11. On the way home from work, I began to feel feverish. It was the end of March, first of April so perhaps this was a bug. During the night my fever shot up to 103 and my body was cramping. I called my Oncologist, and my husband drove me to her office. Labs were taken, along with vitals. A flu test, UTI, etc. was given. Nothing was evident in the tests, so she decided to pause the new medicine for a week. After a couple days of just taking the Tamoxifen, as before, my symptoms were gone and my energy level was back.

After a week I visited my Oncologist again for direction. We decided to give Kisqali another try, this was a Thursday. Overnight I became very ill, my fever spiked again to 103 and I could barely move. I called the Oncologist the following morning and again and we were on our way to her office. This time the labs had some negative results and the fever would not go down. I was admitted to the hospital for a period of 5 days, could not eat without vomiting and generally sick as a dog. At this point I was convinced it was the drug. In today's world most, not all, physicians' diagnosis things like this as viral.

My physician was not on call (at the hospital) so another Oncologist in the practice treated me. His suggestion was to pause the medicine again and restart it for a third time in a week. I flatly refused his suggestion, I had enough of this drug. Trying to recover from this setback and get back on my feet was taxing.

A few days after I was released, I met with Dr. R and she determined that I was allergic to Kisqali. This was my first experience with sensitivity to drugs but it would not be my last. She already had another treatment plan in mind and after I had a week or two to recover, we would try something new again.

I admire anyone in the medical field, but I am especially in awe of my Doctor, and I can't imagine what her daily life in the office/hospital is like. I have seen young people, new Mothers, middle-aged, and seniors in her office. Cancer does not respect male or female or age. News she shares with patients is not always good, sometimes it is but often it is not. My perception, prior to my diagnosis, was that everyone received the same treatment, but this is not always the case. If a physician has multiple patients, I'm sure that no two treatment plans are the same. Just because I'm on a particular drug or treatment plan doesn't mean that the next person is on the same treatment. Yet, my doctor always has another plan in the back of her mind, and we always discuss it prior to starting anything new. I decided to take a leave of absence from work to allow my body more time to recover. This year has definitely been a roller coaster ride, and I pray going forward this journey gets better.

The Summer was hot and humid, as NC always is, and I spent my days and nights with a cold cloth on my forehead and one around my neck. Forcing a body into menopause takes a toll on the body temperature. I often joked with my husband that I needed a new thermostat - mine had to be broken. We started a new treatment plan that removed Tamoxifen from my plan. I was doing great on the Tamoxifen and dreaded starting something new. My husband has always been by my side and his response is "whatever it is we will get through it". I remained on the stomach shot and another drug was added. I was able to tolerate this drug and in three months another PET Scan will reveal if it is working. For the next three months I saw Dr. R monthly and took my meds daily. I was able to stop the stomach injection permanently. My labs indicated my hormone numbers were down. Dr. R had been watching these numbers for a while so this particular treatment could now be stopped.

Treatment plan change number? I have forgotten how many drugs and plans, but I thank God he is still with me in the good times and the bad times. This treatment plan brought its own side effects with it. I began having pain in one armpit and within a couple days there were two golf ball sized knots in that area. These were extremely painful, and I developed a skin issue on several areas of my body. It initially looked like psoriasis but then again no. I was sent to the hospital for an outpatient Biopsy of the tissue in the armpit and on to the dermatologist for a skin biopsy. I knew, from my past history, that the new treatment plan was the culprit, but I agreed to the tests to confirm nothing was wrong. When the test results were completed it was determined that the drug was causing the armpit issue, and I was allergic to it which explains the skin issue.