[Becky]

Oh Kriss

I hear you loud and clear. I only had an ooph but the shutting down of estrogen is the more difficult aspect. Your pathology is much like mine (ER 50% and my actual PR is deemed negative but was less than 5% (some specialist say less than 5% is negative and some say less than 10% is negative)) None the less, with such a small PR %, Tamoxifen would probably not work well for you and an AI would work better. Secondly, getting the hysterectomy while still getting herceptin is a great choice as "theory" says that surgery causes secretion of the growth hormones (ie: Her pathway) for healing and you will be protected.

You cannot take oral hormone therapy but if you have problems with the urinary tract or too dry a vagina to be able to have sex without problems, you can get an estring (a ring that gives a local small dose of estrogen in your vagina). I use this and so do many on this site. It is very safe. You will just have to wait awhile to even see if you need this - many on this site don't as well. You just never know.

Also - I did not gain any weight at all with the ooph. Being an avid walker and runner, I actually lost about 7 lbs since. It is age that causes more of the slowing of the metabolism and it happens to coincide with the natural age of menopause.

As far as work - with an ooph I only missed 2 weeks vs 6 weeks but oh well! It is a small price to pay and it is a temporary thing. I felt the same way though. It means you are a responsible person and that's a good thing.

If you have any questions, ask away. If any seem too private for you, contact me privately. If you want to talk, email me your phone number. It is doable - even if you get some lack of estrogen problems - there are safe ways to get around them.

For joint pain, I take Iceland Health Joint Relief which can be purchased online.

Love and hugs,