As I continue to question and research Tamoxifen I see that there is no way of applying statistics to the individual, just the possibility of having a generality. Statistics are like a squall passing through, who knows where the rain will fall? Or who will be at the right angle for a rainbow? There are always those…
Search Results for: tamoxifen
Tamoxifen 2.0
For months I have been researching and considering Tamoxifen, the one prescription drug I receive. Last week I decided to take a holiday from it. Wanting to figure out if the side effects I am experiencing are related to Tamoxifen, or some other issue, like turning into an old hag – this is my birthday month after…
Is Tamoxifen the Boat?
There is a humorous fable about how God intercedes in our lives, probably told in millions of churches the world over. A big storm sets the water to rising, and soon it has turned into a flood. A man looks up at the sky and secure in his faith, he asks God to save him. Just at…
A Tale of Two Tamoxifens – a case study
*2016 update: I wrote this post in early 2015 while figuring out which brand of Tamoxifen worked best for me. I have since also adjusted my dose from 20mg, to 10mg. The first thing I do each morning is to push back the curtain and look out at the landscape. Morning meditation is spent observing the light…
Neuropathy: the numbing down of cancering folk.
Neuropathy is a side effect of many cancering drugs. It can have long lasting, and even permanent impact. Balancing effectiveness with neurotoxic side effects is the job of the oncologist. I for one would not want to be in the driver’s seat for that one. Especially with a rubric where weight and age are the…
Recurrence, an Oncoming Train?
(Disclaimer: Many of you know that I just visited my oncology team last week- Just so you know, all tests came back normal. I continue to have no evidence of returning disease. I am feeling happy, humble and very grateful for being in this place in this moment.) I have thought of western treatments like…
Is it time to retire my Oncologist?
Joe sent me a thought provoking article from the New Yorker on the need for incremental medicine, the kind practiced by old fashioned generalists, contrasted with the heroic medicine practiced by specialists. Which of course had me thinking about how Cancering treatments might be different if we valued the more subtle aspects of medicine as much as…
Is my time well spent?
Minutes to Hours. My friend Gila was recently out kayaking with another friend when they found a message in a bottle. There was no action requested in the note contained within. What was the motivation for the person who made it and then set it adrift? What is the motivation behind making anything? Sometimes we do…
Happy Anniversary – 3 years and counting.
Happy Anniversary to me! I mean, Happy Cancerversary to me! Three years ago today in 2013 I got the biopsy that started my breast cancer treatment adventures. It seems like something to celebrate because every month that passes without evidence of a return of disease, there is a slightly better chance that I will remain…
Burning Books and The End of Bad Expectations.
I have a confession. I have burned two books in my life. I am not a fan of censorship, I did read Fahrenheit 451, and to be fair I didn’t seek out every copy and destroy them, or start to steal them from public libraries to prevent others from reading them. Nonetheless I am a book burner. The…
Riding the Pooka 