Jennifer Marie J. Yang, MD

November 10, 2022

Update. Long-ish post. Today is post-operative day 7 after laparoscopic THBSO (refresher: the uterus, fallopian tubes and ovaries are gone) and I am now in surgical menopause – as opposed to “natural menopause” when your ovaries just stop pumping out hormones due to aging.

Went for my follow-up clinic visit and of course breast cancer mascot Doreen had to tag along, because getting rid of the ovaries reduce the risk of breast cancer recurrence. The four small incisions on my belly are healing well, and we have instructions to clean them with a skin disinfectant 2x/day then cover them with a dry dressing.

Recovery is going well overall. Pain is almost zero. Energy levels are improving – still need naps but I am not as tired as I was during chemotherapy. I’ve been able to walk more than 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) daily – indoor walking with me following Youtube workout videos or a Wii game called Walk It Out. Menopause-related hot flashes (flushes) are manageable, around 3 episodes or so per day and do not last very long. I already had these during chemotherapy (the medications made the ovaries shut down) and so far they’re about the same intensity and frequency.

Recall that my tumor was positive for hormone receptors (i.e., hormones like estrogen and progesterone were encouraging growth). In order to reduce the risk of recurrence, I needed to take the oral tablet Tamoxifen after the chemotherapy course was done. Now that I am post-menopausal, the recommendations are to change the Tamoxifen to an AI (aromatase inhibitor, a type of drug that stops the body from converting other hormones into estrogen). The AI I am taking is called Anastrozole. So far I am tolerating it without side effects, but of course this is only day 4 – we will see how this goes! I will have to take this daily for at least 5 years.