A short update

This is going to be a short one because I'm not feeling well today.  Earlier this week I had a sore throat, which is one possible side effect from one of the things they're giving me.  Then was sneezing and my nose started running, which seemed like allergies.  And my muscles ached, which is another possible side effect of one of the things they're giving me.

But the following day it was pretty clear that I had a nasty head cold.

Not that I thought cancer would make me immune from the rest of real life situations, but I was kind of hoping.

Instead, I took the day off from work to rest, washed my hands a lot, and was feeling better enough to go to get my next Faslodex shots on schedule (don't worry, I was very careful with handwashing and Purell and wasn't actively coughing or sneezing by that time).

When I got there, my oncologist came by to explain that some of my tests came back and I'm still feeding that cancer too much estrogen, but they do have a way to fix that and help me do a better job of starving the cancer into submission.  It's another drug (Lupron) that's (wait for it) injected monthly.

The funny thing about Lupron is it's also used for men with prostate cancer and so the package has on it this photo of a smiling older man that is, I suppose, supposed to be reassuring for older men with prostate cancer.  For younger women without prostate cancer, it's a whole lot closer to silly (with a possible side of creepy) than reassuring, in sort of a "thank you older man who's joyfully working through prostate cancer but your reassuring services are not needed here" kind of way.

Different dose of Lupron, same happy, smiling Lupron guy.

For those of you still playing cancer treatment bingo at home, we're now up to  Xgeva, Faslodex, and Lupron, all (after some loading doses) injected monthly.

I know cancer doesn't give you bonus points for effort or dedication, but I feel like I should at least get a few days off for learning what all of this stuff is and means and extra credit for knowing how to pronounce "Xgeva".

Instead, although I was feeling better the last couple of days, I think maybe the physical stress of the shots is messing with my immune system because I'm back to feeling like I have a head cold again.

But at least I can sit and rest, and as I sit and rest, I get to feel insufferably virtuous for having all that anti-cancer stuff going to work for me while I do.  And, while I'm sitting here and feeling insufferably virtuous, I also know that head colds don't really last that long, so I will rest and be insufferable for a day or two, and then get back down to business (and yes, family who is sweetly putting up with me without complaint thorough my insufferability, that's a promise).