I had an appointment with my oncologist on Monday to run my blood panels, talk about my side effects and get my third round of Faslodex injections. I spoke with the PA first about the medications I had picked up at the pharmacy over the last week for nausea and heartburn. I assured her that both were working great, so I was finally getting some relief.
My oncologist came into the exam room and handed me my blood panel results, and it was not what I expected. I knew that certain levels would be off but for them to be where they are after only three weeks on iBrance was a shock. My white and red blood cell counts are low, not dangerously low, but lower than we would like, and my ANC is low. ANC, Absolute Neutrophil Count, is the “infection-fighting” count. My count is .8, and the low end of normal is 1.25, so I am at high risk for infection. I need to stay away from crowds, busy restaurants, and people who have a cold or the flu because I could end up in the hospital with an infection and become severely ill.
After taking in the initial shock of this news, my doctor said he was very concerned, so he told me to stop taking iBrance for the next month. The break in taking the medication should give my system a chance to get back to normal levels. I had already received this next round of drugs from Pfizer because I was scheduled to start back on it after a week off a few days ago on Monday. We did discuss dropping my dose from 125mg to 100mg, but we will only do that if my bloodwork doesn’t improve. So, for now, he told me to hold on to the meds, so I will have them to take again starting on May 23rd.
Once I was done discussing everything with my doctor, I went back to the infusion room to get my Faslodex injections. Have I said how much I hate injections? I absolutely hate injections, but that is the only way this particular drug is administered, so I don’t have a choice. It seems that each time I have the injections, I have different side effects from them. Generally, I deal with headaches, bone pain in my hips, and, as with this last time, pain from the medicine itself. I have a small area on the left side near the injection site that is causing me some pain, but it has improved each day. Some good news is that I am done with the initial three doses, so now I will have the injections monthly instead of every two weeks.
During my next appointment on May 23rd, I will see my oncologist, have my blood panels run, and get my Faslodex injections. This will be my regular schedule moving forward every month for an indefinite period of time.