I am about to start my treatment for bone and liver secondaries. I was diagnosed on 22nd October and had a delay in treatment start because I have been holiday and I am having a liver biopsy on Tuesday.
I have some aches and pains but on the whole feel fine physically. Obviously my mental state is a bit of a rollercoaster but generally good with the odd blip. I am very apprehensive about the treatment and the side effects and would be grateful to anyone who is on
Everolimus and exemestane to share their experiences and how quickly side effects appear. I will also be having Denosumab, to strengthen the bones.
Furthermore not looking forward to the biopsy, which I am doing as part of the Aurora Trial. I think it will be useful for me to get a better understanding about what’s going on there and in case any other treatment will be better suited… We will see.
Good luck with the treatment and hope it treats you kindly. Several ladies have been on this in the past so may be able to offer tips and support. From what I can remember it seems the everolimus element may need tweaking ie the dose lowered if you don’t tolerate it well or get too many side effects. Mouth ulcers did seem to be a bit of a problem when discussed by ladies who were on it. I’ll have a look and see if I can find the thread and ‘bump’ it up for you.
As to a liver biopsy I can help with that one. I’ve had two, about 4 years apart to check for changes in receptor status. The procedure is quite straight forward, a bit like having a biopsy done on a primary breast lump that a lot of us have had done. The area is numbed with local anaesthetic although this does go a lot deeper as it has to reach the liver. The same sort of instrument is used as in a breast biopsy to get a sample, it is of course longer than the breast one. Afterwards you need to lie flat for an hour or so before gradually sitting upright and then being able to eat and drink. This is in case of any bleeding. I didn’t have any after effects, I think you can’t drive for a couple of days and recovered well with no issues. I didn’t have any stitches where the probe went but I’m not sure if that is the norm. I must say that my 1st biopsy wasn’t as comfortable as the second but that could be down to the person doing it and getting the anaesthetic right.
If you are able to have it done it is a useful thing to do and also it can qualify you for some of the trials as a biopsy is needed for quite a few of them.