{super happy fun ball}

Do any of you remember the Saturday Night Live commercial spoof for the Super Happy Fun Ball?  If not, please, let me refresh your memory.

SNL Super Happy Fun Ball

The Super Happy Fun Ball is amazing!  One great benefit of fun times, but watch out for the warning list a mile long. 

 There is a drug in the tail end of my treatment that was suggested I take, Tamoxifen.  I read about this drug right after I was diagnosed when I was researching my cancer.  After I was done reading about it the first thing I thought of was the Super Happy Fun Ball.  Holy crap!  One site I found (I'm trying to find it again) said that tamoxifen had 25 risks, its benefit is that it cuts your risk of reoccurrence by 50%.  Tamoxifen is taken daily for five years.  Anymore than five years gives no additional benefit and can actually be harmful. 

Let me take a little break here and get you up-to-speed on why it is suggested that I take tamoxifen.

Yesterday we met with the oncologist because of the 1.2 invasive tumor that was found in the tissue that was removed during surgery.  My oncology surgeon presented my tumor to an advisory board of ten doctors here so it was like getting 10 second opinions on the next step in my treatment.  They all agreed that on a tumor 1.2 mm in size it would be ridiculous to do chemo.  WooHoo!  Trina-2 Cancer-0!!!!  The oncologist said that all I would have to do is take  Tamoxifen daily for five years.  Boo!  Trina-2 Cancer-1 :(  He said it is the smallest invasive tumor he has ever seen in his 30 years of practice.  He said I have really pretty much wiped out all my chances of getting breast cancer by doing the bilateral mastectomy and my chances of dying from breast cancer are pretty much zero.  Trina-3 Cancer-1!!!!  After talking to us about the tamoxifen and all the different odds of reoccurrence  he said, "You could even make a good case to not take the tamoxifen your risk is so low."  Because the tumor is so small my chance of reoccurrence is about 2%.  So I would take Tamoxifen for five years with its laundry list of risks and side effects to lower my risk from 2% down to 1%.  Hmmmm.  I'm not sold.  (After I fill you in on these risks and side effects you will see why.)  After he printed us some information on tamoxifen he said, "As I think about it more I really think not taking it is a good decision, too.  If the tumor was bigger and you didn't want to take it I would definitely try to talk you into it."  Trina-4 Cancer-1!!!!!  I told him I had been reading some information on natural therapies and asked him if he knew of anybody that had gone that route.  He said they have a naturopath that comes into their office once/week that I could talk to.  He said his thought on natural therapy is that it can't hurt, but he finds it more as a complementary treatment.  I immediately thought that if he felt I would be okay not taking the Tamoxifen period then a complementary treatment alone might be perfect.  This is the route I had already decided to take, but I did want to hear what he had to say.  So, I am not going to take it.  I have an appointment next Thursday with a naturopath that came very highly recommended to discuss my options with.   I have been reading some interesting stuff online regarding breast cancer and estrogen dominance.  It makes sense to me and many of the physical problems that can come from this I have experienced or still do.  If I find it doesn't work or I decide I would feel more comfortable taking the tamoxifen I can still do that at a later date.  I will write more on estrogen dominance and it's role in breast cancer in my next post.

So back to tamoxifen.  This is how it works.  Tamoxifen interferes with estrogen activity.  Some breast cancer cells, like mine, are estrogen-receptor positive.  This means that estrogen binds to these cancer cells and causes the cells to grow.  Tamoxifen acts as an antiestrogen and blocks estrogen from binding to these cancer cells.  Cool right?  However, the drawback is that even though tamoxifen works against estrogen in the breast it acts like estrogen in other tissues.  No bueno.  I was unable to find the article that I read that stated tamoxifen had 25 risks and side effects so I am going to just stick with info I found on one site, www.cancer.gov.  We all know that it isn't a good idea to go crazy researching online.  Pick and choose your sites well.  Though I have found that you have to dig a little deeper and check out articles and other studies that give additional information that aren't always shared.   It isn't always butterflies and rainbows.  So here is an excerpt from cancer.gov:

"The known, serious side effects of tamoxifen are blood clots, strokes, uterine cancer, and cataracts. Other side effects of tamoxifen are similar to the symptoms of menopause. The most common side effects are hot flashes and vaginal discharge. Some women experience irregular menstrual periods , headaches, fatigue, nausea and/or vomiting, vaginal dryness or itching, irritation of the skin around the vagina, and skin rash. As with menopause, not all women who take tamoxifen have these symptoms."

Woo-hoo!  Sign me up, right?!  My goodness!  Who wouldn't think twice about taking this drug? 

Here are a couple of things I found interesting in a couple of articles I came across.  Of course, I'm obviously not a medical professional so I don't know the validity of the studies, but when you are the one deciding on treatment they make you stop and go "hmmmm".  One study with 632 high-risk women participating showed that after a program spit out their risk of reoccurrence based on each of their medical cases and how tamoxifen would benefit them, only 6% said they would take the drug.  Three months later when a follow-up was done on the women only 1% ended up taking the drug.  They found that even though the women were high risk they were turned off by the risks and side effects.  In a second article a study found that though tamoxifen reduced the risk of cancer with estrogen-receptor positive cells it increased the risk of getting a very aggressive and hard to cure cancer with estrogen-receptor negative cells by 440%. 

So in my book tamoxifen is a very close relative to the Super Happy Fun Ball.  First cousin, maybe even an aunt, but definitely the crazy aunt in the attic that many people might be a little leery of.  I am very fortunate in my case that my risk of reoccurrence is so low that my doctor felt I could decide not to take it and it would be a good decision.  Like he said, "everybody should be so lucky."  So, it may be easy for me to say, "I decline this treatment plan."  I guess it is just a lesson to everybody to be sure you inform yourself, ask questions and find out if there are alternative treatments that may not be so scary behind the scenes.  The Super Happy Fun ball sure looks fun but always beware the warnings! :)

• Warning: Pregnant women, the elderly, and children under 10 should avoid prolonged exposure to Happy Fun Ball.


• Caution: Happy Fun Ball may suddenly accelerate to dangerous speeds.


• Happy Fun Ball contains a liquid core, which, if exposed due to rupture, should not be touched, inhaled, or looked at.


• Do not use Happy Fun Ball on concrete.


• Discontinue use of Happy Fun Ball if any of the following occurs:
  
  
  
  • itching
  
  
  • vertigo
  
  
  • dizziness
  
  
  • tingling in extremities
  
  
  • loss of balance or coordination
  
  
  • slurred speech
  
  
  • temporary blindness
  
  
  • profuse sweating
  
  
  • heart palpitations
  
  
  
  


• If Happy Fun Ball begins to smoke, get away immediately. Seek shelter and cover head.


• Happy Fun Ball may stick to certain types of skin.


• When not in use, Happy Fun Ball should be returned to its special container and kept under refrigeration. Failure to do so relieves the makers of Happy Fun Ball, Wacky Products Incorporated, and its parent company, Global Chemical Unlimited, of any and all liability.


• Ingredients of Happy Fun Ball include an unknown glowing substance which fell to Earth, presumably from outer space.


• Happy Fun Ball has been shipped to our troops in Saudi Arabia and is also being dropped by our warplanes on Iraq.


• Do not taunt Happy Fun Ball.


• Happy Fun Ball comes with a lifetime guarantee