worries about zometa and teeth....

I know it's hard to see me in that picture on the ergometers (rowing machines) in the room with everyone -- though I am in front. I made a .tiff crop, and I can't seem to get the blog to take it (OR facebook, OR twitter. What's it FOR, I ask you??) I tried pasting it here, too -- no go. Oh well, maybe one of you guys will help me out here. (I'm not asking my kids -- don't even suggest it.....)

My molar sockets still throb -- but it's been long enough now (a week and a half) that bleeding isn't a real concern, so I can take advil and naproxen. No contest now; this is way longer than the post mastectomy pain. Go figure!

I had those molars out in preparation for taking zometa -- and I just heard a horror story about it, which is making me worried. Course it was 3rd hand, so no way to find out if there is a clear way to avoid the trouble happening (like maybe the woman who'd taken it had a tooth pulled? I was able to get it down to 2nd hand, but my friend hadn't asked all the questions I had, so no way to know that part of the story. UNless my friend bumps into this woman again and asks....

ANyhow, the story I got is that this woman took zometa and lost half her teeth -- and the other half are loose. It does have a risk of osteonecrosis of the jaw. Both my local oncologists think this is overblown, hardly any correlation between the incidence of osteonecrosis and having taken zometa. I tend to trust what an individual knows about her (or his) body over statistics. It's not easy to prove anything from anecdotal evidence until it's way obvious.....

What I did hear directly from my own personal friend about HER experience with zometa surprised me, though it was not tooth related. I was not expecting side effects, but she says she had to sleep off flulike symptoms for 24 hrs. And she took zometa a lot more often than my doctor recommended I take it, so I suspect she took a smaller dose. However -- this I can do; it's short term temporary. I just won't schedule it before a biking day, if I can manage not to. :-D

I next see my doc in a couple of weeks; I had been planning to set up the zometa thing then. I'm going to see how much I can find out between now and then...... any help, anecdotes, etc. will appreciated!!