Prayers first and then Hormone Therapy, Ovarian Suppression and Surgery #2
- Sami Pickens
- Jul 20, 2019
- 5 min read
I had a crazy realization last night while we were watching the finale of stranger things. So much so that I paused it and said … did you know it’s been 5 months since I found my lump?
FIVE MONTHS. How in the world has it been almost half a year of this new “normal”? Sure I found the lump end February and didn’t get diagnosed with cancer until April 11. But, since that first day I felt that weird spot on my boob, my life has been different. For almost everyday of this past 5 months as soon as I open my eyes I start praying. This is the only thing I have found that diminishes the sense of worry and fear.
Justins grandpa told me to not forget to pray for my own health. That hit me hard. I am REALLY great at praying for others. If I see something or hear something sad is happening to someone or someone’s family I pray consistently for them. Since my diagnosis I have also started praying for myself. It still feels weird most days to ask for blessings all for myself when I feel that God gives us more blessings than any of us deserve already in his love for us. But, it most definitely brings a sense of peace that is unmatched in any other way. So everyday I pray that my physical body will be healthy and that I will be able to live today without worries about side effects or cancer recurrence. Every. Single. Day.
Outside of the praying – my treatment plan continues to be carried out, which in itself provides more reasons to worry and obsess. I’m going to do my best to give a short synopsis of where I am which each part. 😝
HORMONE THERAPY (pre-menopausal hormone positive breast cancer)
I started tamoxifen 2 weeks ago. Since it’s generic it’s great it costs me exactly $0 and I am so thankful for that. It’s a small little tablet I take by mouth every night around 8 pm. It’s crazy that that one little tablet can do all that it does to prevent recurrence of cancer in someone who has hormone positive cells:
“Tamoxifen attaches to the hormone receptor in the cancer cell, blocking estrogen from attaching to the receptor. This slows or stops the growth of the tumor by preventing the cancer cells from getting the hormones they need to grow”
Side effects and contraindications are the number one reason of stress for pre-menopausal women who start tamoxifen. The most common side effects include menopause like symptoms of hot flashes and night sweats, spotting, and vaginal dryness. More rare but scary side effects also include blood clots, bone loss, and uterine cancer.
The major contraindication is becoming pregnant while completing therapy.
Me personally?
I have been blessed to experience minimal side effects (that I can feel) from tamoxifen thus far. I have had a handful of nights that I wake up so freaking sweaty but I am not experiencing routine hot flashes or any other of the worrisome side effects. My family and I joke that possibly I am not feeling hot flashes cause I am always so hot and sweaty on a daily basis my whole life anyways 😂
The major contraindication of not getting pregnant as you all know is a rough spot for me with my 5 year treatment plan. Thankfully, I am working on career goals as is Justin and we are planning some cool vacations for the next couple of years while we wait to start a family ❤️
Susan G. Komen has a great website all about it if you or a loved one need more information:
OVARIAN SUPPRESSION
I should have got my first Zoladex (subq implant) shot this past week. But I had to cancel the appointment because I was having insurance issues. I want to share what I did here because it’s ultimately going to save Justin and I $400 per injection. Which, there are 13 of … so that’s kind of a big deal. The steps I took could be done for many other medical issues so here it goes:
Prior to my first appointment I called and asked my health insurance what it would cost. They explained while the facility is in-network – the shots are billed as outpatient procedures so I would need to pay 75% of the out of pocket cost and they would only cover 25%. Which ended up being $500 per injection + fees. (Seems like not a lot of work but it took about 8 hours of phone calls to get this info)I reached out to the clinic to see if there was any possibility of me or Justin doing the injections at home or billing the visit differently so that my insurance would cover it? While this is not able to be done at home they are able to bill it differently so that the clinic fee is $170 per visit but I now need to obtain and bring the injection each visit (every 28 days)I spoke with CVS speciality clinic and found that Zoladex costs me $150 per month from them. So overall would be looking at $320 per month for 13 months for the injection part of my treatment plan.Went online and found manufacturer copay card for the Zoladex injections through McKesson (go being a pharmacist!) You could google a copay card for any expensive medication if you have drug insurance and do not use Medicaid or Medicare. A lot of companies are sensitive to needs of patients when it comes to specialty drugs. The copay card would allow for the injection to be $0 up to the first $2,000 of costs.
We are working through the crap prior auth approval of using this injection off label and hopefully by end of July I will start my 28 day regimen for 13 months!
RECONSTRUCTION SURGERY
I get my implants JULY 24th!!!! I am SO EXCITED to get my expanders out. Also, I am planning to only be away from work until that following Monday since I most likely won’t have drains after this second surgery ☺️
I am not looking forward to going back to not lifting more than 5 pounds … or inability to do much of anything for myself but am hopeful this second implant surgery is a little less dramatic than the double mastectomy!
I am so ready to get a move on with this, I have a half marathon to start training for!!
As always thank you for the continued support throughout this crazy journey!
Here’s my breast cancer walk team if you would like to join or donate money. We have currently raised over $4,600!
If you are in the Gainesville area more info to come on a fundraiser at First Magnitude the evening of September 25th ☺️
As I continue to live each day for the moment – I continue to hope that you can learn how freeing the feeling is as well ❤️
Love always,
Sami
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