Last week I was officially given the ok to resume one of my treatments...Ribociclib (aka my fancy pills). As I have mentioned before, it had made my liver "grumpy" and I had to stop taking it. For approximately the last six weeks I have been have weekly (and on occasion twice weekly) blood tests to check the toxicity of my liver. I have been working hard to get back on this medication because of the impact it has had for other MBC warriors out there, but there is a large part of me that has been dreading restarting also. Mainly due to the nausea and fatigue I felt last time.
This morning was D-day, my Oncologist told me to wait until today so I got to enjoy Easter. I looked at my husband Phil nervously this morning as I was about to pop my first pill and what he said made me feel so much better....
Nothing like a war story to make you feel better!
He said "when you are fighting a war, first you cut off the supply lines (my Letrozole does that, it starves the cancer from its main food source - oestrogen and progesterone) then you go in finish the job (my Ribociclib)." For those who do not know Phil well, he is a World War 2 buff and he then went to tell me about an important mission that took place in Italy called 'Operation Strangle' where the German army occupied Italy and the allies were struggling to bring the fight to them successfully. In Operation Strangle they cut off the German Army from their supplies by blowing up bridges and the railways. Once they were weakened they went in to finish the job...
I don't usually like to think about war, fighting and loss of human life, but this analogy did help me to swallow my tablets this morning with determination.
My dose will be lower this time, 2 tablets instead of 3 and my liver will be closely monitored to watch for toxicity again. As I mentioned in my last post I am working hard to remove toxicity where ever else I can.
Time to express how grateful I am...
I need to mention how grateful I am for the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) here in Australia. On the picture below you can see the full cost of my medication, $5,497.69 for a one month supply. I am fortunate to only pay $41.30 per month (although I do wish it was less!). As I take 2 tablets for 3 weeks then give my body a break for 1 week, one box will last for a little over one cycle now. As a box contains enough tablets for a full dose - 3 tablets daily for 3 weeks.
I know this drug will work for me, I am sure the shrinkage I have had in my cancer to date has had something to do with this medication. I have not seen my Oncologist in person for a number of weeks, but when I do, I need to see that CT scan that shows the shrinkage and compare it to the diagnosis scan to see for myself! I was so encouraged that only after one full month and 2 weeks into the second month I made this much progress!
Thank goodness for the PBS! I love the WW2 ops analogy, I hope it's all progressing well xx
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