Starting Letrozole

alicebastable

Hello everyone. I was here in 2018 and reasonably active for two or three years. I gradually drifted away due to confusing changes in the site, plus other members I'd gotten to know either dropping out or dying. But now I'm back because I've been diagnosed with bone mets. Apparently there are a lot of them, but they are very tiny. They first showed up on my annual CT scan in August that I get to follow other medical issues. That sent me back to the oncologist, who ordered a nuclear bone scan, and that one came back clear. Yay, I thought. The oncologist insisted I still get the bone scan she had ordered, and it was positive, although at my follow-up appointment, the MO mentioned she was happy the radiologist managed to get a sample because although it was the largest one, it was still extremely tiny. The things that make some people happy! Anywho, here I am with bone mets when I thought it was just my usual arthritis and spinal meningioma being annoying. I'm getting ready to start Letrozole, and I'm wondering if any of you fellow bone crap people have any suggestions for the best time of day to take it, and whether with or without food. The MO is planning to start me on Kisqali in a month or so if I tolerate the Letrozole adequately. I'm leaning towards not taking that. I'm 76, and I have a moderate-sized aortic aneurysm, a smaller renal artery aneurysm, the meningioma that probably won't kill me but might make me wish it would when it impinges on more nerves, rampant arthritis that has me graduating from a cane to a rollator to enable me to participate in life outside the house, nerve damage that has turned one hand mostly numb and useless, type 2 diabetes (more or less manageable with just one Metformin daily), and who knows what else my body has in store for me. My years aren't worth extending too much if any treatment will exacerbate current conditions or create new problems. Just being practical. I think.

My Letrozole question is buried in the middle of all those words. I guess I also needed to vent. Thanks.

moderators

Hi @alicebastable and welcome back. Though we hate the reasons that bring you back, we're happy you're leaning back into our community for support — we're all here for you. We're sure others will be by soon to weigh in.

The letrozole/Kisqali combo is a common one we see here for metastatic disesase. You can read others experiences with and ask your questions about this treatment here.

The Bone Mets thread also will provide some insight to you, as well as the metastatic ILC thread.

We also wanted to share that we also offer free, weekly metastatic breast cancer virtual support groups as well as a monthly metastatic lobular cancer group that you might be interested in joining to meet others face-to-face managing similar experiences; you can see all the dates/times and links to register here.

We hope this helps get you started back up in the community. Let us know how else we can be of help.

—The Mods