Chapter 7: Letrozole Day 5 + side effects

My mom came to visit me Friday night and stayed over until Saturday evening! She lives about an hour/hour and a half away from me so I see her and the rest of my family fairly often, but she has not stayed over on her own at my place yet, until this weekend. We stayed up chatting until 1 AM on Friday, and then all day Saturday. My cousin and niece also dropped in to visit so I had a nice, relaxing weekend alhumdulillah.

Friday was also the last dose of my Letrozole. After finishing the five day course, I think that the following were more side effects than me trying to spot any side effect that felt out of the norm (symptom spotting taken to a new level):

1. Hot flashes! Phew .... for the past three days, I've felt as if I ate something way too spicy and my whole body has just been burning from the inside out. My mom wanted to sit outside yesterday to have breakfast, which we did. It was a gorgeous 70 degrees with a slight breeze and we went with our cup of chai and a plate of hard boiled eggs. But goodness, I could not sit out there without feeling as if I couldn't breathe. So hard to catch my breath, and then even more difficult to try and cool down. I barely lasted a whole hour, and then told her I had to get back in the house where I have had the air conditioning cranked up (who turns the AC on when it's so nice out?!). I've been living in my tees and pajama pants because I cannot deal with how hot I was getting. Prelude to what will happen come menopause? God, I hope not.

2. Bowel movements? I'm usually the gal who has to go like once a week, MAYBE twice. It's very rare for me to go every day, or even every other day. Over the past few days though, I've had to go like 3x a day. It's freaking me out.

3. Odd pressure/cramping pain when I get up from sleep; I'm not sure if it's just gas buildup or something else, but whenever I get up from bed in the morning, I have this intense sharp pressure only on my lower right side. When I get up to go use the restroom, even just moving to turn over and get out of bed makes me inhale so sharply because the pressure or pain or whatever it is feels like it's stabbing me just on that one side. It's bizarre and I'm hoping it stops soon.

4. I was extremely hungry but it only lasted a day so that could have easily just been a me things and not a side effect thing.

. . . .

My Gonal-F, Ovidrel, and Prometrium got delivered yesterday (Saturday) morning. My mom knows that we've begun treatment but I know seeing the meds and the injections would just freak her out so I put them away to the side, and the Ovidrel in the refrigerator, until this morning. Yesterday was a day full of not worrying or stressing about meds. I've been trying to not stress about anything, actually. It's not going excellent, but it is a work in progress.

I called Shady Grove this morning to schedule my cycle day 11 appointment for bloodwork and ultrasound. I have to take the Gonal-F injection on day 9 (Monday), so they will check to see how everything is doing on day 11. If all looks good, I may have to take the Ovidrel soon after my appointment, or may not have to if my body just does what it needs to do which means no need to use the Ovidrel to trigger.

My husband and I sat down this afternoon with all the remaining meds and the paperwork of information. Our nurse had talked to us back in October about how to mix the vials of medication and do the injections but we honestly don't remember that well. So we spent a good amount of time reading through all the pamphlets and watching videos on how to properly mix and inject the Gonal-F. That's the first one we have to do, so I'm taking it one thing at a time.

I got anxious reading all the possible side effects and the things that can go wrong, and we should call the doctor if they do happen. I had to pause a couple times in between reading to slow my heart rate. He asked me again if I was sure I want to do this. I know I'm sure, but I'm also nervous. I'm excited but my head is clouded with worry. I don't want to think about what if it doesn't work, but sometimes I can't help it. I know odds are that it probably won't work on the first treatment cycle, as it's rare that it does, but hey, it is possible.

We've prepped and are ready, my follow-up appointment is made, I've opted out of upcoming family events for my sanity, and I think I need to spend the rest of today planning out the last week of school for my students (I'm so sad I only have 5 days left with them), and relaxing with The Crown.