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Chemo & early menopause — help, please!
Question:
Karen & David <dlmur…@ix.netcom.com> wrote in article <329A1513.3…@ix.netcom.com>… > My questions are > – Has anyone of you been through this or do you know someone who has? > – Is there anything she can/should do now so that she might be able to > have another child? > – How can I help her through this? > Thanks in advance for your responses. > Karen in CA
Karen, I have a friend, 28, that was diagnosed with leukemia 6 years ago. She underwent chemo, and from what she told me, the chemo destroyed her eggs. This left her sterile. I don’t see how taking Lupron would have prevented the chemo from affecting your friend’s fertility, as the chemotherapy attacks all rapidly dividing cells (that includes cancer and ova, unfortunately). I think the best person to ask about this would be an oncologist. From what I have read in my husband’s medical textbooks (he is an anethesiology resident), because women are born with all the eggs they will ever have, there is no way to stimulate the ovaries to produce eggs when she runs out (menopause). IVF/GIFT with donor eggs is an option for my friend, she is considering this. I believe this will be a possibility for your friend as well. I am so sorry for your friend. I imagine your support and information that you’ve learned about your own options for pregnancy will be very helpful to her. Nancy
Response:
I do not have any words of wisdom for you, Karen, or your friend who may be experiencing premature menopause. I was on Lupron and had the expected menopausal symptoms, as it shuts the ovaries down completely in chemical menopause. I don’t know if Lupron can, across the board, prevent menopause in women who undergo chemotherapy. After I was on Lupron, my progesterone phase of my period did not return (aka Luteal Phase Defect, common in women with endo). I have since had to have a hysterectomy with my left ovary and tube removed. The right one remains but I get my "hot flashes". The ovaries are incredibly sensitive organs. I have not been able to have any children of my own. It may be that this other woman was fortunate…I don’t know. All I can say is that I learned a wonderful affirmation that may be of help to your friend, and anyone who can benefit from it. It is this: "I am not responsible _now_ for what I did not know _then_." I rejoice for her that she has a child and hope that she will utilize all the resources at her disposal, but we cannot know everything at all times. All we can do is the best with what we have at any given moment in time and allow ourselves self-forgiveness when we have regrets. I hope she is allowing herself to grieve the loss of her breast and fight against the cancer–she may be displacing this onto her grieving the (possible) inability to have another child. I don’t know. She has been through a lot and is lucky to have a friend like you. Sincerely, Coleen Kalamazoo, MI
Response:
I have a friend who is 36 and has a two-year-old son. About the time she and her DH decided to try for baby #2, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She immediately started chemo and then had a mastectomy. She knew that chemo could bring on early menopause, but the fertility specialist she consulted said that he knew of nothing she could do to prevent it, so she went on with the chemo. Now she has finished chemo and is waiting for her period, which probably should have returned by now, and she’s having hot flashes and night sweats instead. She called me this morning for some advice and support, as she knows that I am going through infertility treatments and have a reproductive specialist to whom I could refer her. She’s been doing some research since completing her chemo and has found that if she had been put on Lupron while going through chemo, she might have prevented the effects on her reproductive system and might not be going into menopause now. She’s feeling guilty, because although she was *extremely* knowledgable and informed during her treatment, she did not find out about the possible fertility ramifications until it was too late. My questions are – Has anyone of you been through this or do you know someone who has? – Is there anything she can/should do now so that she might be able to have another child? – How can I help her through this? Thanks in advance for your responses. Karen in CA
Response:
Nancy, Thanks for your response. I do not understand exactly how Lupron helps, either, except that each type of chemo has different side effects, and some affect fertility more than others. Anyway, the friend for whom I was asking for info knows another cancer survivor who was put on Lupron before and during chemo and is now pg. Thanks again; if you run across any other relevant info, I would appreciate if you would pass it on to me. Karen – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -Nancy Koerner wrote: > Karen & David <dlmur…@ix.netcom.com> wrote in article > <329A1513.3…@ix.netcom.com>… > > My questions are > > – Has anyone of you been through this or do you know someone who has? > > – Is there anything she can/should do now so that she might be able to > > have another child? > > – How can I help her through this? > > Thanks in advance for your responses. > > Karen in CA > Karen, > I have a friend, 28, that was diagnosed with leukemia 6 years ago. She > underwent chemo, and from what she told me, the chemo destroyed her eggs. > This left her sterile. I don’t see how taking Lupron would have prevented > the chemo from affecting your friend’s fertility, as the chemotherapy > attacks all rapidly dividing cells (that includes cancer and ova, > unfortunately). I think the best person to ask about this would be an > oncologist. From what I have read in my husband’s medical textbooks (he is > an anethesiology resident), because women are born with all the eggs they > will ever have, there is no way to stimulate the ovaries to produce eggs > when she runs out (menopause). IVF/GIFT with donor eggs is an option for > my friend, she is considering this. I believe this will be a possibility > for your friend as well. > I am so sorry for your friend. I imagine your support and information that > you’ve learned about your own options for pregnancy will be very helpful to > her. > Nancy
Response:
I don’t know much about this but I do know that there are people suffering awful after-effects of Lupron – would it be a comfort to her to know that she may have avoided (however unwittingly) these potential effects? For example, how would these have affected her ability to care for the child she already has? She has to wonder what else this doctor may not have told her. But she did get through the cancer and she does have a child and she doesn’t have to deal with any Lupron effects so she really does have a lot going for her. dn Karen & David <dlmur…@ix.netcom.com> wrote: – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text ->I have a friend who is 36 and has a two-year-old son. About the time >she and her DH decided to try for baby #2, she was diagnosed with breast >cancer. She immediately started chemo and then had a mastectomy. She >knew that chemo could bring on early menopause, but the fertility >specialist she consulted said that he knew of nothing she could do to >prevent it, so she went on with the chemo. Now she has finished chemo >and is waiting for her period, which probably should have returned by >now, and she’s having hot flashes and night sweats instead. >She called me this morning for some advice and support, as she knows >that I am going through infertility treatments and have a reproductive >specialist to whom I could refer her. She’s been doing some research >since completing her chemo and has found that if she had been put on >Lupron while going through chemo, she might have prevented the effects >on her reproductive system and might not be going into menopause now. >She’s feeling guilty, because although she was *extremely* knowledgable >and informed during her treatment, she did not find out about the >possible fertility ramifications until it was too late. >My questions are >- Has anyone of you been through this or do you know someone who has? >- Is there anything she can/should do now so that she might be able to >have another child? >- How can I help her through this? >Thanks in advance for your responses. >Karen in CA