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Dear Johanna, I love your posts! My great grandmother's name was Cajsa Nilsdottir, (born in Sweden). Are you Swedish, too? From your post it appears to me that you are doing the right things. Your diet sounds good and you are very much aware in your treatment. One of the biggest thing this BC teaches us is PATIENCE, and it is hard when you've been a person who gets things done and likes things to move along quickly. Patience is a good virtue---I have finally learned it at age 76--so my advice is to take a deep breath and relax your tightened jaw and practice being patient. You have heard of "fight or flight", well instead of fighting or fleeing, we have to learn to flow! It is hard, I know. I've learned to sit quietly and breathe in and out slowly, thinking "Breathe in peace and breathe out stress." It will gradually help the anxiety attacks. You asked if anyone has taken femara with chemo: My oncologist immediately put me on femara, navelbine and herceptin for the first sixmonths, then just herceptin and femara until my ejection fraction got so low (30%) that I had to go off the herceptin. I was on it altogethr about 15 months, which must have been enough because I am NED from lung mets (third BC in 21 years). I am still on femara and expect to be for some time. After my second mets I was on tamoxifen for 5 years and stayed NED for 15 years. I think (and I've said before) that fear is our greatest enemy. It can only be overcome with faith. One of the positive things we do on this board is pray for each other, and I know it helps. I like the frozen gloves idea! I remember some years ago some nurses here in Arizona invented a hat which would keep the head very cold during chemo. They claimed it would avoid hair loss. I don't know what ever came of it, but frozen gloves and maybe a frozen hat might work! You sound like a very strong, positve person;I think you will make it! I will be watching for your posts. Hugs, Tricia
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