As part of my adjuvent therapy (the ongoing treatments that I'm doing beyond the big chemo/surgery/radiation trio), I have mentioned that I'll be taking anastrazole every day for five years (and I've gotten pretty used to it, and the carpal tunnel it caused has mostly improved) and I will also get a Zometa infusion every six months for two years. Last Friday, I had my first Zometa infusion.
As with all things, all bodies are different, and there is no real "here's what to expect" checklist for any treatment. Doctors can tell you that there are certain side effects to expect, but because of the aforementioned "all bodies being different," you can hear the words and not understand what's really going to happen to you. This is all to say that I went into the Zometa infusion expecting bone pain ("is this bone pain?" I have often thought to myself when I have a random ache or pain that I can't identify! But not anymore!) and maybe some flulike symptoms for a few days. The day of the infusion I felt pretty good. Maybe a little nauseous, that feeling of "I am coming down with something," but I had plenty of energy and went to a great outdoor art fair in a neighborhood I like. I had some tacos, I hung out with my friends, I wandered around and the weather was perfect.
Overnight, I experienced bone pain. What I had wondered about before was probably not bone pain. Bone pain is pain. In your bones. It's terrible! I hated it a lot. By morning, I could barely move. I spent most of Saturday sitting in the recliner with a heating pad, complaining. It was probably the most painful experience I have had in the whole cancer process so far. And to recap: I did AC-T chemo, I had a double mastectomy, I did radiation, I had a full hysterectomy and oophorectomy. I have done some stuff. And this hurt the most. By Sunday things were a little better, I could walk very slowly around the block with the help of a cane, I could walk around the house without screaming (this is not a humorous exaggeration. Saturday was very challenging), the weather was great again so we grilled in the backyard. Pretty good day. Way better than Saturday. By Monday, still some bone pain, still some tightness in my back, but I could move more normally and I mostly wasn't in pain. I still felt pretty tired, so I'd get bursts of energy and then I'd feel really wiped out. Today I'm still aware that I'm recovering, but I'm good enough that if I didn't want to show it, you wouldn't know. I have three more of these infusions! I hear that the first one is the worst, and I hope that's true.
My occupational therapist says that what she's seen over the years has convinced her that anywhere there's weakness in the structures of the body (old sprains, old injuries, anything like that) is extra affected by these treatments just because of the way they work. Before I was diagnosed with cancer, I had some nerve issues in my elbow and fingers on my right side, some joint issues, some back issues (the MRI suggested that I had arthritis in my spine, and the nuclear bone scan showed a lesion on my spine but the bone biopsy way back last year came back clear), I have an ankle I sprained as a kid, and all of those spots flare up with these treatments. I can feel it. It's so weird.
Anyway, having cancer is not as easy as "well I did these things and it's gone so I'm done" for me! It would be really cool if that were the case, but instead, it's just a thing that's part of my life all the time, and mostly it's ok, and sometimes it makes for a difficult weekend. I'm very grateful to have my partner in my life (he stayed with me all weekend, taking care of me and the cats and also playing a lot of Final Fantasy XIV). I'm very grateful to have the cats! I got a lot of good time just resting in the recliner with buddies. I'm grateful to live so close to my parents, who brought some food over. It all could have been a lot worse, but it also was not fun.
As I think I said in the very beginning, when this happens, cancer, any major health thing, the "oh I wish things were different" is really a "I wish this had never happened to me." But it has happened to me. And it's ok. Despite everything you have read in this post, I'm happy! I never expect treatments to be painless or cool (and I am never disappointed), it's all just a part of my life. I used to have a different life and a different body, and now I have this one. I do not spend my time wishing it were different anymore, because that's both a waste of time and a weird internalized ableism, and I'm doing my best to leave it behind. It serves no one. I appreciate the good days and all the things I can still do.