The Savvy Survivor

I had a telephone conversation with my Oncologist's Nurse Practitioner, yesterday. The news she gave me was amazing!! Merry Christmas to me! I've been taking Femara , since September; and she told me my tumor markers were significantly lower than when I first started taking it. Before I started taking Femara, my markers were in the mid-100's; they are now in the 70-80's range! I'm having to deal with six side effects, but just hearing the news that the drug is working, gives me the energy and determination to continue dealing with those side effects. Tumor marker levels in the 30's are considered normal; I'm almost there! No need for chemo, yet! Roughly two years ago, I told my Oncologist that I wasn't willing to go the conventional treatment route, anymore. The last drug combo (hormone blocker and chemo drug) I was on caused me 14 side effects, and I was miserable!! I told him what I had planned to do; he supported my decision, and said if I needed him...

For the last 8.5 years, I've been battling Stage 4 breast cancer; in that time, I have, unfortunately, developed a few more health concerns. In the next few blog posts, I'm going to focus on the other health concerns; sharing with you the research I've done on how to manage/care for them. The newest health concern of mine is a peptic ulcer; I had to have abdominal surgery, to repair a perforated stomach, because the ulcer had become a life-threatening situation. I didn't realize I even had an ulcer, until I was told my stomach had ruptured. That's what's known as a "silent ulcer"; they're caused by overuse of NSAIDs; and there are no symptoms. For years, I've been taking too much Ibuprofen (1K mg at a time), too often (multiple times a week); you could say I was addicted to it. It became the only pain reliever I could use, that didn't make me feel loopy, like narcotics do. Having become addicted to it, my stomach reacted and formed the ulce...

When I started The Savvy Survivor, on February 14, 2013, I had every intention of sharing my journey with you; I wanted to show whomever was watching that they could survive an incurable disease, beyond their doctor's prognosis. That was my plan, anyway. I feel that I have failed my mission. Throughout the years, I have survived; but I haven't taken care of myself as well as I should've been doing. I backslid into old eating habits, more times than I can count; to the point of almost being diagnosed with Diabetes. I have half a dozen new health issues to deal with, as I'm writing this to you; including being the reluctant owner of a peptic ulcer . There are two ways to get peptic ulcers; one is via H. pylori bacterial infection. The second is by way of overuse of NSAIDS ; this is how I got mine. I have been taking far too much Ibuprofen, more times a day than I should've been, to keep the pain of my breast cancer from spoiling my day. I will never take Ibuprofen, ag...