Bisphosphonates are usually given to post menopausal women rather than pre-menopausal and help bones to strengthen and reduce the likelihood of cancer spreading to the bones.  Unfortunately, bisphosphonates are not available everywhere in the country and it appears to be a post code lottery which is awful.  I know there are campaigns under way to ensure that everybody who needs it gets it so I do consider myself fortunate.

The plan for me is to have 6 monthly infusions for 5 years.  There was a trial (in China I think) that lasted for 5 years and it showed that there were definite benefits but strangely, from that, it appears that when people are given this, it's usually for 3 years.  I questionned my oncologist about it and he agreed that it was strange so we've decided to try it for 5 years.

So I had my first infusion on Thursday.  It's given via a drip and lasts about 15 minutes so it's not onerous and if you've been through chemo then it's a walk in the park.  I was told that I might feel a bit like I had flu afterwards but just to take paracetamol.

I went home and felt absolutely fine.  Cooked dinner, watched telly and was feeling completely well until ........ 4am I woke up freezing.  I was so cold that I couldn't move under the duvet in case any cold air hit me so I woke up hubby who put 3 dressing gowns on top of the duvet and put some socks on my feet.  My temperature had shot up to 39 degrees.  Also, if I moved I had really horrible pains in my bones - particularly in my legs - and my legs felt restless.  I was also really thirsty.

The day after I felt really achy and struggled to get my temperature down and generally felt quite unwell so I text my breast care nurse who said that this was normal for the first round of treatment but did get better for each one after that :(  Oh great!  Anyway, today (day 3) I'm feeling much brighter.  A bit achy but my temperature is almost normal so hopefully by tomorrow I'll be fighting fit!

I thought this stuff was supposed to be good for you!  Hahahahahaha!