People are probably getting tired of hearing from me, but here goes:
Yesterday,I had my 6 month mammogram after the end of chemo. The report is good -- no sign of the tumor.
I'm still dealing with UTIs. The kidney stone was harboring tons of bacteria, but after they got rid of it, I'm still getting the infections. They have now decided the problem is my immune system itself.
I was taking Femara, an estrogen suppressant, to lower the chances of recurrence of the tumor, but it has a history of depressing the immune system somewhat and causing repeated UTIs. A better alternative is Tamoxifen, which has a lower rate of such side effects, so I was switched to it two weeks ago. Now we have to wait to see if things improve. In the meantime, my doctor is running tests on my immune system, and if that is the problem, there is an injection he can give me (weekly) that boosts the immune system. However, first they have to determine that it is the problem, which will take 4 tests, 3 months apart. I've had one, so nine months from now we'll have the results <sigh>.
However, since I have to stay on Tamoxifen for the next 10 years, I guess I have the time. It's a nuisance, but I can now say I've lived through worse.
