After having problems with both the 10 mg & 7.5 mg of Afinitor, I have been pretty anxious about having to start it again at a lower dose. My oncologist and her nurse have been touching base with me each week to see how the side effects are healing and have been trying to calm my nerves. They even moved my appointment up a few days so that we could talk in more detail about this drug and options if it doesn't work again. During all of the this time off, I have still been on the anti-hormonal drug, Aromasin, that Afinitor is paired with.
Since the ptscan showed that it was working on the lymph nodes, my oncologist thinks it is important to try again. The thought is that I wasn't completely healed from the side effects from the time on 10mg, and that making sure that I am fully healed this time will hopefully help me to be able to stay on the 5 mg dose for longer. I'm supposed to wait another week or so and then begin the 5 mg pills. If I get any of the bad side effects again, I am supposed to immediately stop it.
We don't want to give up this option if we can help it because unfortunately, this is the last of the anti-hormonal combos that is available right now. If the Afinitor doesn't work or has too bad of side effects again, we will be looking more at clinical trials or more standard chemos. Thankfully, there is an oral chemo that would probably be what we tried first as it would have the least impact on my time/life, but I'm really hoping the Afinitor will work and it won't be needed for quite some time.
I'd really appreciate prayers for complete healing from the previous side effects and that the 5 mg pill will work without bad side effects for as long as possible. Thanks in advance, and I hope everyone has a good weekend!
