Nancy Jill's Cancer Alphabet: L

The letter L

I’ve slacked off lately on my MBC alphabet because I had family in town celebrating our thirtieth anniversary that we got to have BECAUSE I DIDN’T DIE. Part of why I didn’t die and I’m still not dying is due to this tiny yellow pill called Letrozole. Letrozole is one of three drugs known as aromatase inhibitors, and in estrogen positive breast cancer, they suppress the growth of cancer cells by preventing the normal cells of the body from converting androgens to estrogens. Letrozole and its relatives are effective drugs until the cancer finds a way to make its own estrogen, or mutates to be able to grow without estrogen. Cancer is a mean mother***er that learns how to be more evil over time. But these drugs aren’t particularly nice either. Because they affect every cell of the body, they can cause muscle pain, joint pain, fatigue, non-existent libido, memory loss, weight gain and other unpleasant side-effects. They are given to menopausal, estrogen positive breast cancer patients who have either early stage or metastatic disease. Some patients find these drugs so debilitating that they take their chances and quit taking them. I have pain every day from Letrozole but I have have a high pain tolerance, and I use many comfort measures to mitigate my pain and live life normally. I take this tiny yellow pill every day, without fail even though I dread it. I will probably take it for the rest of my life. Or until a cure is found. I really want a cure.