Last week there was an appointment with the gynecological oncologist we saw on our first visit to Mayo. He also performed the hysterectomy part of the surgery done on September 9th. The biggest issue affecting Karen's quality of life are hot flashes. She gets anywhere from 10 to 15 a day, which is roughly one an hour. It's not only uncomfortable, but it's starting to keep her up at night.
Before they knew the source of the cancer, the only thing they were sure of was that there was cancer on the ovaries, which raised some concerns over hormone replacement therapy. Those sorts of cancers often have hormone receptors which, when activated, can encourage their growth, making it an all around bad idea to give such a patient estrogen. However, since the cancer turned out to be colorectal in origin, that doesn't necessarily rule it out.
So the doctor wrote Karen a prescription for 1 mg of Estrace, which is a naturally occurring estrogen. It's the smallest dose possible, but we were told if it doesn't take care of the hot flashes, he can up the dosage. The caveat being, before starting the Estrace, it has to be approved by the oncologist we're working with in charge of the chemotherapy and subsequent follow up care. I left a message with his office, but we're still waiting on a call back from him.
