Hormone therapy can successfully suppress the breast cancer that is hormone receptor positive and this means a few years of medications and checkups. The therapy also prevents the re-emergence of this form of cancer.
For best results, the patients need to stick to a special treatment plan that most doctors refer to as the full compliance.
Staying on schedule after a few months is difficult because the side-effect start to reveal. If you are looking forward to a hormone therapy or already taken one, here are some ways to over-ride those problems.
Skipping the medicine
This is by far the most common problem in any ailment. After some major treatments for hormone therapy, the patients are given pills to continue the treatment for years to come. However, when you start skipping the pills, the body experiences a setback and renders the therapy partly ineffective. If you are getting healthy after a surgery for breast cancer, you are probably tired of anything that reminds you about the problem.
Since there are quite a few more medications besides the actual therapy, it eventually gets troublesome to keep a track of all of them. You may be good in remembering the time of your pills in the beginning, but then you start missing on a few. The first compromise is the pills and then you start skipping visits to the doctor.
When you wish to keep up with the schedule for hormone therapy, relying only on the memory is not enough. Most women taking hormone therapy for breast cancer are not as good in sticking to the schedule as much they seemed confident about. The fact of the matter is that it almost impossible to follow a hormone therapy plan unless there is a reminder of some kind. Read on for some real ways to get more particular about post hormone therapy medications.
Keep record of your medicines along with the time and not just mental record. Maintain a written diary that shows how many medicines you will take each time. Moreover, ask the doctor to give you a written plan of everything. the treatment plan should cover the amount of dose for the patient, its mode of delivery and any alternate in case you happen to miss any dose. Try not to miss any dose in the first place but if it happens, you will have a backup in the treatment plan.
Its important that the medication must be taken at the same time each day. This is not very hard to remember if you have the same daily routine. For your morning pill/s, tie it next to your breakfast and for the midday pill/s, take them after lunch. As for the night medications, take them before going to bed and after brushing your teeth.
Despite the above mentioned measures, you are bound to miss some dose some time. This can be taken care of with a digital reminder. That’s right, this is the most apt way to put the alarm clock in computer, or cell phone can be put to good use.
However, if your profession demands you to travel more, it will be hard to remember the timings. While packing, you can count the pills you will need on the trip but its best to keep extra dose just in case. Keep the medications handy in a carry-on bag. Packing it in the luggage can be the last mistake you can do. Take your written prescription and treatment plan, if you have to go overseas for a long span. Get the contact of a doctor in your destination place so that you can visit the doctor if there is any emergency.
