Tamoxifen fears
The website of Fight Pink features terrific stories of the many faces of survivorship. Today I have been reading an inspiring piece by Nic McLean , a young breast cancer survivor, on her concerns about taking the drug tamoxifen. I myself took tamoxifen for 2 years, but I think I would have continued to take it for the recommended 5 years, if I had not wanted to come off it to try for a baby (but that’s a whole other story).
As Nic struggles with those menopausal side effects of tamoxifen which I remember so well, Nic’s fears lie in the possibilities that taking tamoxifen may lead to uterine cancer. The percentage of women this happens to is very small at 1% but nevertheless it remains a possibility. In my own opinion the benefits outweigh the risk. It has got me thinking though, of my own fears. The fact that I came off tamoxifen to have a baby, (with the agreement of my oncologist) but heartbreakingly for me that hasn’t happened, leaves me with fears of a cancer recurrence. I fear that I haven’t done all that I should to prevent a recurrence. However, it was a risk I was willing to take to have a child. I just hope I haven’t risked too much in the process.
Read more on my fertility story here
Read my fertility blog Diary of a Miracle
