Achey Breaky Shots

Long story short, late last winter as things wound down, the question of long term treatment options really started to get going. My medical oncologist really wasn’t strongly opinionated on one option over the others, and I went for a “second opinion” even after he consulted with his team and another treatment facility. The decision was to, in part, start Lupron shots monthly for the five years per the protocol in the study and arm of that study that I fall into. That was late spring. Honestly, it was one of the “easier” options for me to go through. I show up and get a shot once a month and take a pill daily. No surgery. Study shows good long term outcomes.

So fast forward eight months to right now. Yup, that is 8 out of 60 months. Also known as 52 months to go. Oh my goodness, I hurt. Last month I actually had the same issue. I’m not sure if I just wasn’t connecting it before or if it took a while to happen. This is the most common side effect according to the doctor. My hands. My feet. My knees. And the exhaustion. And an annoying not intense but so very much nagging headache. The good news is that I didn’t have any hot flashes today. The bad news is that I think it was because it is finally cold here. Right now, it hurts to sit up so I’m laying on a heating pad with my knees bent and it is just too much for my knees. Plus the typing on my fingers.

The rest of the month I ache, but nothing like this. I’ve experienced, what they tell me are, typical menopause side effects. My hands ache in the morning but a few stretches on the steering wheel on the way out and I’m good to go most days. I’ve blamed a lot of that on my hip issues. If you ask That Guy, he might say I am emotional. And let’s not discuss the pain of the actual injection site. It’s not awful, but it hurts. I think since the first few months I was getting the Lupron shots it fell on the same day as my Herceptin shots, I maybe wasn’t putting together what was having a certain effect. I also think the day after was not nearly as bad as this for aching at least.

I’m hydrated. I’m rested. I don’t think the Neulasta tricks would really apply since that is related to the bone marrow and white blood cells. Anyone have any tricks for me? Or just want to come rub my thumbs?