Dr Lerman – Life As I Know It

My shiny new hip

September 7, 2024

I’m happy to share that my total hip replacement was a success! I had the surgery on Tuesday and was home Wednesday afternoon. My first home physical therapy session was Friday and he cleared me to walk the cul-de-sac. All the pre-habilitation has paid off!

Thank you to everyone who has sent well wishes and flowers and text messages. They are very much appreciated and each one brightens my day.

So, it turns out that my right leg was 1.5 centimeters shorter than my left leg. Over time, with the cancer eating away at my hip, the socket flattened out. The top of the femur also flattened out. It was months in the making so I didn’t necessarily notice the leg difference. It feels weird now to have both the same length – the right feels longer than the left.

He put a ceramic socket in and attached it to the cement/hardware that he put in a couple of years ago. My hip is not strong enough to have the socket attached to the hip bone, like in a normal hip replacement.

The top of the femoral head is metal (titanium I think). When he was putting it in my femur cracked (again, weak bones) and so he had to wrap some wire around it, kind of like a wine barrel. Overall he said the procedure was good and doesn’t expect any kind of complications with the healing.

Ann came out and was my caregiver for which I am extremely grateful. Maddy took the day from school to come to Denver and wait with Ann during the surgery.

The weather has been good and so I’m looking forward to walking outside. My PT comes again on Monday and I’ll be looking to walk longer. The cat is happy that I’m spending a lot of time in the recliner! On Monday I’ll get back to working, probably from my recliner!

I’ll have a check up in 2 or 3 weeks. I’m still planning to go to Belgium with Maddy for a breast cancer symposium later in September. The work must go on!

I also have a PET scan mid-September to see if the cancer is stable or growing. Keep those fingers crossed! 🤞

Onward!

June 2024 update

June 17, 2024

Here we are in full swing of summer. Flowers are blooming, the sun is shining and I’m enjoying all of it.

I had infusion #7 of Enhertu last week. It was an uneventful appointment which is always good. I received a bunch of pre-medication (anti-nausea meds and steroids), a big old bag of fluids (for extra hydration) and Zometa (a bone strengthener). The Enhertu itself only takes about 30 minutes but with everything else it comes out to around 2.5 hours.

I typically feel quite good the day after an infusion. The fatigue starts to hit 3-4 days later. I try to take it easy those first few days because it’s easy to overdo it.

My activity is mostly waking outside now on the cul-de-sacs of our neighborhood. They provide good stability and I can lengthen or shorten my walk pretty easily. At least easier than if I was doing a big loop around our neighborhood. I’m walking long enough now that I can easily listen to some audiobooks which is nice. I’ve missed that. I’m currently listening to How to Solve Your Own Murder by Kristen Perrin.

Anyway, I’m doing fine overall.

I did meet with the orthopedic oncologist last week as well. He validated my pain pointing out on my CT scan that a part of my hip has cracked and broken off and there is the fracture extending through my acetabulum. My femur hits that area each time I put pressure on my leg.

My right hip is on the left of the image. You can see the femur head is not round like it should be. This is from hitting the actual hip – which it should not be doing. You can also see a triangle in the lower center of the left side. That is a part of the hip that has cracked off.

The very good news is we have a solution! In early September I will get a hip replacement. I am very much looking forward to this. The orthopedic surgeon is very confident this will solve the problem. I’m looking forward to walking without pain. My family is also looking forward to my being more mobile. My situation impacts them as well so we will all be happy once I have a shiny new hip.

Onward!

Holy Shit – My Pain was Legit

Happy 2023 everyone! I hope your holiday season has been exactly what you needed it to be. We stayed home and enjoyed each other’s company and brought home this little guy from the Humane Society to live with us.

Meet Toulouse – he’s 4 and the sweetest guy! He’s made himself right at home and we are all head over heels for him.

My hip stabilization procedure was December 12, just over 3 weeks ago. This morning I had a post-op appointment. Everything looks fine. I’m healing as expected.

It’s a bit frustrating to not heal faster. The surgeon commented that right now I’m in a period of time where the recovery slows a bit but our expectations do not. He thought that I was handling it better than most patients so that was nice. I’m trying to give myself a little grace, but it’s hard. I want to get out and move!

It was rather shocking to see the imaging taken just after the procedure.

The cancer is basically eating away the bone. For the surgery, they went in and filled in any cavernous areas of my hip with cement. They also added 2 screws that act like rebar in cement to hold it in place. The surgeon said they were surprised to see so much cavernous area and they put in a lot more cement than they were anticipating.

View of my right hip from behind. The dark area is cement. Within the cement two reinforcing screws are visible.

So, I told him that my pain was legit! He found that humorous and agreed that it was legit.

The image is of my right hip, looking from behind. The dark area is all cement. You can see the screws as well. Insane. It’s a bit sad too because it means that the medication was not really stopping the cancer from progressing. I’m hopeful that the combination of the new meds I started last summer and radiation I will be having next week will knock down any active cancer.

Tomorrow I have an appointment to get palliative radiation set up. They will plan everything out and then I’ll go in for 10 doses of ☢️, daily starting January 9. The actual radiation treatments should be quick.

So, the new year is bringing with it new treatments. Here’s to hoping they get everything stable. I’m also hopeful that 2023 will bring more advances in science that will provide more options for future treatment.

Onward!

Surgery plan – December 3, 2022

Many people have asked, I finally have a confirmed surgery date of Monday, December 12.

The plan is to have a procedure that should help stabilize my hip and pelvis. It will be done in Denver as out patient surgery and should only take 1-2 hours. I should be home that afternoon. One of my sisters is coming to help me.

I don’t need anything at this point. I don’t know how long the recovery will be; I’ve been told I should be up and about very quickly.

Later next week I have a consultant with a radiation oncologist. I will have some radiation to the hip later in the month just to kill off any pesky cancer cells that might be hanging out.

I appreciate all who have reached out. I hope to catch up with many of you who are local for coffee or a meal.

Thanks everyone!

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Cancer life on instagram @nottodaymbc

My monthly oncology appointment last week was fine. We just keep rolling along. Medications all the same.

Fulvestrant (a SERD that inhibits estrogen from feeding the cancer, 2 shots a month)
Ibrance (A CDK4/6 inhibitor that attacks cancer cells
Lupron (A monthly shot that puts me into menopause)
Zometa (A quarterly infusion that strengthens my bones)

My Cranky Hip – November 12, 2022

I mentioned briefly that my hip has been bothering me, so much so that I purchased a cane to help me walk.

Woman holding up a black cane. — This is my “fancy” cane. Lovely fleur-de-lis in white on black. It’s collapsible and comes with a bag so I can fold it up and carry it in my handbag.

I can’t walk unassisted, basically. I don’t want to continue to live like this because my quality of life (QOL) is not great.

So, I went to see an orthopedic oncologist in Denver.

I learned that the cancer has compromised my pelvis right exactly where my femur touches it. So, it’s painful whenever there is pressure or force exerted on it.

Dr. Lerman is in Denver and developed a novel approach to helping stabilize the pelvis of people with cancer. Rather than do a full hip replacement, he and Dr. Brown developed a surgical approach that will relieve my pain, take only a couple of hours of surgery, and have minimal recovery time.

It looks like I could have the procedure done after the Thanksgiving holiday. I don’t have any more details at this point, other than to share a short video of Dr. Lerman talking about what they do for the surgery.

I’m very glad that this looks to be an option. At the same time, I’m reminded that while my mind wants to move forward with life and do all the things….my body is riddled with cancer that is dictating everything.

I’m grateful for the access to care that I have. It’s also a struggle mentally and physically.

Thank you all for your support and checking in on me. I post about cancer stuff on this instagram account: @nottodaymbc