Delaying Tamoxifen for Pregnancy

MzSocialButterfly
MzSocialButterfly Member Posts: 5
edited November 2018 in Young With Breast Cancer

Hi All,

I am new to this blog stuff but have been trying to find all information I can before making a decision. I am 42yrs old (as we know my biological clock is ticking) I had a bilateral mastectomy on Jan 9th, 2018. I had Stage 0 in my left breast and Stage 1 in my right. Thankfully the cancer was found early that I was able to avoid having to do any chemo or radiation. My onco score came back at 17% so that also stopped me from needing chemo after the mastectomy. My biggest problem is my Oncologist wants me to take Tamoxifen for 2 years before trying for a baby. That is not realistic for me. I have embryos that are frozen that I did prior to diagnosis. I also was able to have my eggs taken out before surgery so they could be frozen. I was wondering has anyone avoided taking Tamoxifen and tried for pregnancy 1st or did you do tamoxifen first then tried for baby. Its now 7months post mastectomy and I am stuck at what I should do....

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  • Moderators
    Moderators Member Posts: 25,912
    edited August 2018

    Hi MzSocialButterfly, and welcome to Breastcancer.org,

    We're so sorry to hear of your diagnosis, but we're really glad you found us. You're sure to find this Community an extremely helpful resource of information, advice, and support.

    While you wait for the ever-helpful responses from our other members, you may find it helpful to check out the main Breastcancer.org site's section on Fertility and Pregnancy Issues During and After Treatment.

    We hope this helps and we hope to hear more from you soon!

    --The Mods

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  • ElaineTherese
    ElaineTherese Member Posts: 3,328
    edited August 2018

    Not under 40, but I would try for the baby now if I were you. Your chances of recurrence/metastasis are small, plus you did a BMX! What grade was your Stage 1 BC? If it was Grade 1, it would be a no-brainer to me.

    You were smart to plan ahead and freeze those embryos! Awesome! Good luck

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  • Cpeachymom
    Cpeachymom Member Posts: 518
    edited August 2018

    butterfly-

    I would take the Tamoxifen. Since you already have frozen eggs and embryos, you can afford to wait. It’s not our bodies ability to carry a baby that fails, it’s our ovaries stop making viable eggs. If you’re going ivf route anyway, two years shouldn’t matter much.

    Best of luck with these tough choices.

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  • MzSocialButterfly
    MzSocialButterfly Member Posts: 5
    edited August 2018

    Cpeachymom Thanks. two years for me matters. Did not want to have to try at 45yrs to have a baby. So I told her I will think about meeting in the middle at 1year but now I am just contemplating trying for baby first then taking tamoxifen. Just thinking I have two weeks to make a decision though.

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  • MzSocialButterfly
    MzSocialButterfly Member Posts: 5
    edited August 2018

    Elaine I had happened to do IVF 2 years before my diagnosis so I had embryos frozen already. Once diagnosed they suggested me take my eggs out so I did. I have to find out what grade because I don't recall them ever telling me a grade. Every day I am learning something new post cancer surgery. I have two weeks to decide what to do. My onco is ok with whatever I decide but she also wants me to know it would be her recommendation that I do 2yrs on tamoxifen.

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  • Sophiemara
    Sophiemara Member Posts: 66
    edited August 2018

    What about a compromise and taking it for a year? The highest risk of recurrence is generally in the first few years, tamoxifen is obviously there to reduce that risk and even though your risk is low, I would be worried and even taking it for some period of time must be better than none.

    As someone said having the embryos already will not change your chance of getting pregnancy later on. However I can see that being mid 40s won't have been what you planned, but protecting your own health is equally important, especially for a child. I understand where you are coming from though, my doc wants me to wait full five years of tamoxifen, but we have agreed on 3 years which is next year to try for a child.

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  • christina0001
    christina0001 Member Posts: 1,491
    edited November 2018

    I took tamoxifen for a year, went off, got pregnant and ended up with two kiddos over the following two years. Yes it's a risk, and my onc was not happy about it.

    It's a crappy choice to have to make. I haven't resumed the tamoxifen and I know I should. How will I feel if the cancer returns and I have two kids and didn't do all I could to prevent a reoccurrence? But I would never regret my choice to have these little guys, they are the best and they're going to do great things.

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  • MzSocialButterfly
    MzSocialButterfly Member Posts: 5
    edited November 2018

    thank you Christina for responding to me. Do you mind me asking you how old you were when you came off? I started the Tamoxifen and have been on it for 3months. Planning on stopping in Feb (6months on it) and implanting my embryos and hoping to become a mom! Like you I want to try to do all i can to be a mother. With my time ticking I feel like why should I allow this disease to stop me!! I thought having the mastectomy would have me worry less!

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  • christina0001
    christina0001 Member Posts: 1,491
    edited November 2018

    It's hard to remember since its been a while. I would have been around 35.

    The worry never goes away entirely... Sometimes being a parent makes it worse.

    Good luck to you!

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  • MzSocialButterfly
    MzSocialButterfly Member Posts: 5
    edited November 2018

    omg thank you so much for your story! Today I am going to see my onco and telling her my plans on stopping so i can try to implant my embryos next year. She won’t be happy but i’m making a decision that will make me happy! I’m walking by faith with this! Hopefully i’ll have a great happy outcome lik you did!

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