HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME

Today is my birthday.   I am now 66 years old as of today.  I am thrilled to have another birthday to get another year under my belt, but getting old sucks. However it is better than the alternative.  Happy Birthday to me and many more to come!

I did not feel good yesterday, nauseous and my stomach ached.  I felt odd. With the pandemic out there, first I thought that I may have Covid, but then I think perhaps it is the medicine I am taking; hoping that it is not.  I do not know which would be worse.  I still do not know if the medicine will  start to affect me differently over time. I do not know if it is something that accumulates in your system.  Today I feel better. Not great, but at least better. 

I am again sitting under a tree looking at the ocean and I must say it is better to feel bad in a place like this then anywhere else, well maybe not anywhere, but it beats home in my bed.

DOCTORS NOTE: I decided to go to my oncologist, because he has a sterling track record with his patients and because of his experience.  He is a doctor that has been in practice for over 50 years.  Yes, younger doctors will learn all about the new medicines and how they work and all the new procedures available, but Stage 4 cancer has really not changed all that much.  There are new medications available and their use does need to be learned, but the pharmaceutical companies send out the pertinent information and their studies and they make sure every oncologist is aware of the medication and how to use them.  Therefore; for me, I wanted a person who has had a lot of experience and one who uses his knowledge and also his intuition in his decisions.  A doctor who has tried all of the medications and the various combinations and seen how they work with other patients.  Not that I do not ask for second opinions, I do.  One must do their own homework.  You should ask many questions regarding your health decisions.  Doctors are only human and they are not infallible.  If they cure you they are geniuses, but if not they say, at least we tried.  A lot of medicine is trial and error.  Prescribing pills is not a procedure, nor is it to remove something or set something in your body, medications are different, because everyone is different and their bodies respond differently. The decisions made by doctors are really just educated guesses as to how the various medications will work on you.  Chose your doctor wisely, they are not all the same.  If you feel that something is not right about your doctor or how you physically or even mentally feel, go elsewhere.  This is for Stage 4 Cancer as well as any cancer or any other disease.   

One other thing, I must say: It is your body and no one can require you to do anything you do not want to do.  You control what you put into your body and what you will not allow into your body.  It is always your choice and once again I say, do your homework or have someone that you trust with your life to do the homework for you.  For me it is my husband.  I cannot stand reading about what it is that I am going through or the statistics, they freak me out.   You own your disease and you own your body.  Listen, discuss, question, get second opinions and then you decide how you should proceed.  It is always your choice. 

I believe that my doctor, not that he has said as much, would have given me another medication after the Ibrance and Falsodex stopped working.  It  would have required monthly shots as well as a pill.  He, I believe, decided on the regiment that I am on now, because of my intention to travel and for me to be able to avoid having the shots while I am away.  He did say that I could eventually go on the protocol that includes the shot at a later date, not taking it now does not preclude me from taking it later.  When we asked long ago if we could travel as we had planned, he did not say no, he said it is unusual, but yes we could. He stated that the medicines that I will need are available in all or most of the countries that I will be going to.  But getting shots every month would prove to be difficult to get.  All this goes to show you, that you have the ability to continue with your life the way you want to live it.  Like I have said; Life is not merely surviving.