I went to see my oncologist today. First, some good news, my blood panel was completely normal today, with no low or high levels on anything! Today was the first time I have had my blood look this healthy in 3 years. Of course, now, that will change somewhat with the meds that I started today. We discussed both meds that I started today, and I asked him a few questions that we thought of after my last visit. So, this is what we discussed and the questions he answered.
The Faslodex is given in two injections because it is a lot of medicine, 500 mg. The drug is very thick, so they must warm it before injecting it. It is administered intramuscularly into the buttocks (gluteal area) slowly (1 -2 minutes per injection) as two 5 mL injections, one in each buttock, on Days 1, 15, 29, and once monthly. Today was day one, so my next three appointments are on April 11th, April 25th, and May 23rd.
My dose of iBrance is a 125 mg capsule taken orally once daily for 21 consecutive days, followed by 7 days off treatment to comprise a complete cycle of 28 days. It is highly important that my doctor keeps an eye on my white blood cell count because this medication can drop my levels to too low, just like infusion chemo did. If my white blood cell count drops too much, he will lower my dose to 100 mg or 75 mg if necessary.
I will have a PET scan every three months to check the progress of the meds on my tumors. If the meds shrink the tumors, we will keep my meds the same. If the tumors are growing, we will change my meds and try something else. The goal is for the tumors to disappear or shrink and then stay that way; at that point, my cancer will be controlled, and I will be in remission.
My questions: How long will I be on these meds? I will be on both meds as long as they are working, indefinitely.
Do I need to do anything special while on these meds? I need to drink 2 to 3 quarts of water every day, get plenty of rest, stay away from large crowds or people with colds because I will be at risk of infection, wash my hands often, and something new this time; I can’t eat grapefruit or drink grapefruit juice.
There are, of course, side effects, as with any medication. So far, I have had a headache tonight, but nothing that Tylenol couldn’t knock out. I had some discomfort from the injections for a few hours after getting them, but that has stopped.
I will let you know how I am doing as I go through my next few appointments.