Well, I thought it was hard enough to care for my husband with Alzheimers along with seeing to my 98 year old aunt in the nursing home and to a friend in Assisted Living who I have the entire P.O.A.
Then I was diagnosed with a rare type of breast cancer called Paget's Disease. My primary care doctor determined it was a cyst. Mammogram showed no evidence of cancer, but after about at least a year and a half I had a dermotologist take a biopsy.
So on September 22 I had a mastectomy..no cancer in lymph nodes but have to start a pill soon to keep cancer from invading blood cells.
I will be 79 next month. I feel okay..still have a drainage tube in breastless area. I am thankful for what I hope turns out to leave me with a few more good healthy years.
Anyone heard of Paget's Disease or know of anyone who had this rare form of breast cancer? Marymember
The fact you have someone at home who needs your care, it will be a distraction away from worrying about the cancer.
You will find yourself being very tired for a couple of months so try not to over due it. No picking up anything more than 5 pounds for awhile. Do your post-surgery exercises as soon as you can, the finger-walking up the wall is a good one. Been there, done that, have the pink t-shirt.
Some women can take either pill and have zero side effects, others can take it and get every side effect in the book. It all depends on your own DNA makeup and how well you tolerate other kinds of medicines. I've had a life time of issues with all types of meds, be them prescription or over the counter. I tend to be hypersensitive to the fillers, binders and coatings on pills.
It took me a long time to find a pharmaceutical manufacturer that had fillers/binders/coatings that I could live with. This year that manufacturer stopped making the Tomoxifin pill, so I tried the liquid form and that wasn't user friendly for me, so I had to stop taking it.
I never took Coumadin or xeralto for blood clots as I never had a heart issue in reference to clots.
A mammogram also didn't show anything, but my primary doctor insisted she felt something, so the doctor insisted that I have a sonogram and sure enough it was a start of a tumor which turned out to be cancer.
I never told my parents I had cancer, I didn't want to upset them since Dad was still recovering from a mild heart attack. Now I wished I did, because I looked healthy they thought I could run them all over the city driving, and this doctor appointment and that doctor appointment not realizing I have a bunch of brand new doctors I was seeing on a monthly basis myself, and I was exhausted :P