Femara sucks!

In March, I started taking this anti-cancer drug called Femara (or Letrozole if you want to know the generic drug name). Most people know about Tamoxifen, but fewer people seem to know about Femara.  It is in the class of drugs known as an aromatase inhibitor, which basically means:


It blocks the enzyme aromatase (found in the body's muscle, skin, breast and fat), which is used to convert androgens (hormones produced by the adrenal glands) into estrogen. In the absence of estrogen, tumors dependent on this hormone for growth will shrink. 


My tumor was estrogen positive, which means it grew larger due to the presence of estrogen in my body. This drug is supposed to keep estrogen from "feeding" any possible future tumors. It is supposed to reduce my chances of a recurrence by 50%. Okay, that's all good. 


Now for the small print. And this is why it sucks. It makes me feel about 80 years old. Like I've run a marathon a day for about a month and my muscles and joints are so stiff and tight, that I can barely walk across the room without wincing. It's worse in the morning and evening, but also hurts after sitting a while (oh, you mean like in my JOB???!!!).  The doc recommends the usual pain relievers--Advil or Alleve, both of which work a bit. I'm reluctant to take it every day, however. 


Yoga helps, and I've started doing it almost every day just to get some relief, but for the most part, it kind of sucks. 


Okay, enough about that. Let's talk hair. I finally was able to upload a photo to show how much my hair has grown in in the past month. I know it's not nearly as luxurious as it once was (ha ha) but I am finally starting to look like I have a buzz cut. I'll take a buzz cut over the cue ball any day. I'm hatless all the time now and hardly even think about my lack of hair these days. Well, with one exception--my driver's license photo! Damn, damn, double-damn. This WOULD BE the year that my license is up for renewal. The ONE FREAKIN YEAR THAT I'M BALD. I've put it off since March 17, but I may have to bite the bullet and bring the wig back out for one last hoorah. Ugh. I just can't do a license photo with so few hairs on my head.  What do you think? Wig or not? Weigh in on this very important decision, folks. I'll be going sometime this week. 


Hugs and easter bunny chocolate.