Asbestos and Awareness
I am sitting at chemo in a very comfortable, private room that just has a good vibe, and life is good. I am feeling really good, other than feeling a little nervous because I am getting the bone strengthener today that I get every three months, and I’m a little anxious about a possible reaction the next day or two. I usually feel under the weather the first couple of days after chemo now, so the bone strengthener on top of that does not excite me. Keeping my fingers crossed it’ll be fine.
The only side effect I am having on a regular basis now, which is just annoying, is that I have had trouble staying asleep through the night. I remember having this problem when I was on chemo the first time. Although I am still feeling great – I’m having a lot fewer side effects from chemo/immuno., I feel more normal again for more days in my cycle, and I am much less tired and don’t need a nap during the afternoon anymore, and I don’t fall asleep on the couch early every night anymore – I am still thinking a lot about cancer, mostly because I don’t know how long my remission will last, and I have some anxiety about that.
I lie awake questioning a lot of things – how long will my remission last? How many lines of treatment will I have? What do we try when my current treatment fails? What kind of pain and procedures will I go though in the future? Will the cancer come back aggressively when it comes back? Will it morph into another type of breast cancer? Can that even happen with triple negative cancer? Will I finish everything I want to do with the rest of my life?
The one thing I have never questioned is why me? Why did I get breast cancer? And then why did I get metastatic breast cancer? I may not have questioned why me, but I have questioned what might have caused it. I have been looking at some breast cancer statistics on the Mesothelioma Center’s Asbestos.com page (asbestos.com/cancer/breast/) about breast cancer. The facts I know so well now – one in EIGHT women will get breast cancer. The survival rate is 91 percent for all types of breast cancer combined. I remember being so relieved when my breast cancer doctor told me that one. She said I was going to survive. And that’s all the hope I needed to get me through cancer the first time. But I had triple negative cancer. A 30 percent chance of getting metastatic breast cancer. I only had a 30 percent chance of inheriting breast cancer in the first place, which I found out from my genetic testing. My maternal grandmother, aunt and cousin had breast cancer, as well. My mother, sister and I all share the same mutation.
While I know that I had a higher chance of getting breast cancer, I know with my entire being that I got it from stress. My husband and I both got cancer at the same time; his was just slower growing, and he ignored symptoms for a year, thus being diagnosed after I was done with my treatment. We both got it after a very stressful time in our lives. I believe maybe I had a predisposition that was triggered by stress and perhaps environmental changes (We’ve moved around a lot with the Coast Guard.) or environmental toxins. But that’s just my hypothesis.
I have only used Beautycounter, nontoxic products, especially in my deodorant, because I believe all the chemicals we use on our bodies pose risks, and I eat mostly clean because I believe all the artificial crap we put in our bodies is just not good for us. The Mesothelioma Center’s Asbestos.com page (asbestos.com/cancer/breast/) states that according to a 2016 study, environmental factors can play a role in the risk of breast cancer including exposure to ionizing and non-ionizing radiation, pesticides, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and metals. Their page devoted to breast cancer lists factors that we can and can’t control when it comes to breast cancer. I have struggled along my journey wondering whether I got it from my biology or whether I got it from something I might have had more control over – exercising more, avoiding toxins, avoiding alcohol, weight gain, even using a natural deodorant. And I still struggle with this – what did I do to get into remission so that I can keep doing it, and what do I have to do to stay in remission? These are the things I think about when it comes to my cancer, it is what is on my brain when I can’t stay asleep at night, a side effect of the chemo. It’s not why me but how? How did this happen, and what can I do to give it my best fight? There is obviously nothing I can do about the things I have no control over, but there are a lot of things I can control, that we can control. And on this first day of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and with October 13th, Metastatic Breast Cancer Awareness Day, coming up, I want to write about prevention. Because the I should haves and I shouldn’t haves have burdened me on this long breast cancer journey of mine.
Usually, I write my posts to work through my own thoughts and feelings along this journey, but today I am going to write to all of you, about the things you can do NOW, besides the vital breast self-exams I urge you to do and the mammograms you should keep up with, especially during CoVid, which might make getting them a little more difficult.
I am a big one on reducing chemicals from the products I use on my body. I am a big one on eating clean. I am a big one on self-care and reducing stress. I am a big one on limiting my alcohol use. I don’t know if doing these things reduce the risk of getting breast cancer, but why take the chances? The research looks compelling, and why not when you could possibly avoid having to go through what I and one in eight others go through? I tell myself all the time I am glad it was me. I am glad it wasn’t my mom, or my sister or my friends or anyone else I care about. I tell my kids, and have since they were young, to always ask themselves is it worth it when they’re making decisions for themselves. And let me tell you, making some simple decisions for yourself now is worth it.
I usually try to do something to bring awareness to breast cancer each October. One year, it was a Beautycounter Pink Pumpkin Party, one year it was a Swim Across America swim, and for this October, I have chosen to encourage you to take a look at the following breast cancer page because it has some good information and a nice list of breast cancer partial risk factors that show some ways you have control over lowering your risk of getting breast cancer: asbestos.com/cancer/breast/. Obviously, you can’t control your genetics, but why up the ante?
Here is the Mesothelioma Center’s list of Breast Cancer Partial Risk Factors (asbestos.com/cancer/breast/:
1. Consuming more than two alcoholic drinks a day – I limit my glasses of wine to one a night and have tried to reduce the frequency. I probably shouldn’t be drinking at all since I have cancer and I’m on immunotherapy, but … I have three teenagers!
2. Having children after age 30 – My mom has the same gene mutation as my sister and me, but she had her two children early. Maybe there’s something to it??
3. Not having children – Yup. I have unexplained infertility.
4. Not breast feeding – And not applicable!
5. Taking the drug diethylstilbestrol (DES) to prevent a miscarriage – my grandmother took this drug, and I have been on a study for decades. My grandmother did get breast cancer, her daughter (my aunt) got it, and then her daughter (my cousin) got it. It has always made me wonder??
6. Recent use of birth control pills – I went on birth control at a young age to alleviate my severe cramps and stayed on them until I was 26. Always wondered if this influenced my chances of getting cancer??
7. Utilizing hormone therapy after menopause – My aunt, my cousin and my grandmother all got breast cancer after going on hormone therapy.
8. Being overweight or obese – It’s just not healthy. Unfortunately, through aging and chemotherapy, I had gained 35 pounds each time I was on chemo. So, now that I have gone NED and am wanting to stay NED, I am trying to lose a bunch of weight to be healthier fighting this disease and because research has shown that being obese is a factor.
9. Receiving hormone replacement therapy (HRT) – see above
10. Receiving radiation therapy to the chest area – I had radiation to my chest during my first battle with breast cancer.
11. Exposure to toxic substances or carcinogens – We are exposed to SO MANY toxic substances and carcinogens. Why not try to reduce the number we are exposed to? Once you start eliminating products you use on your body, you realize just how many toxins we are putting into our bodies – and those are only the ones we can control!
I have always thought that an inherited 30 percent chance of getting breast cancer was a small percentage. But maybe with all these other risk factors, my chances were a lot higher?? These are the things that keep me up at night. In any case, we need to keep learning and researching. That is something all of us can do this October. I encourage you to check out the Mesothelioma Center’s Breast Cancer Page at asbestos.com/cancer/breast/, and I challenge you to find one way to reduce your chances of getting breast cancer this month, this year, this lifetime.
In October, I am going to keep fighting and keep living. I only have two more flips of my calendar. I didn’t think I was going to make it to see the end of the calendar. But I ordered another calendar the other day, a really big, really pretty one that inspires me and sits on a table in an easily accessible, highly visible place in our kitchen. This month, this year, I am not going to be afraid of it anymore. I am going to live every day of 2021 and hope and pray for even more. I am feeling so good and so thankful, grateful and blessed.
Happy October, everyone, and don’t forget those self-exams and mammograms!! Take care, and stay healthy! I’ll write again next Thursday, or for sure after my doctor’s visit and chemo session in two weeks.