On April 7, 2004 I was told the words so many women of us fear, “You’ve got breast cancer”. Praise God that I am healed, but the road has been long and hard. I did it all: chemo, radiation, bilateral mastectomy and reconstruction. On August 29th I had my last reconstruction surgery. During chemo I gained about 7 pounds, and after chemo I added on another 7. Chemo puts you into menopause, and tamoxifen helps keep you there. By October, 2005 I was physically exhausted and depressed, using all my available will power just to take care of my 4 kids. The thought “I am so tired” permeated my life. The hot flashes were debilitating – one per hour, 24 hours a day. It felt like someone was sucking the energy out of me with every hot flash! I tried every medicine that my oncologist recommended for hot flashes, and ended up on a synthetic progesterone. After researching that drug, I decided that natural progesterone was the better alternative. I found Dr. McManus and talked with her about my health issues, and my fear of hormones because of my breast cancer. I was also having several surgeries and Dr. McManus helped me adjust medications so that the side effects of the antibiotics and the stress on my body have been minimized. My recovery after each surgery has been amazingly fast, which has been a real blessing. I am taking a low dose of progesterone to help with the hot flashes and menopause. This summer I was swimming 1 mile 3 times a week, walking a mile every day, and doing Pilates. I am now walking about 3 miles a day since I can’t swim for a few weeks due to my surgery, and I went to Pilates this week! I have also lost about 7 pounds and I feel great. Now, if I could only stay on a consistent low carb, low sugar diet! Even though I know that I feel best on that diet, I get lazy and go back to old habits. One day at a time…
Jana