Normal is a constantly shifting state

So last week I did a lot of things. I biked a lot, I walked a lot, I had rested a bit after the Vegas trip but not very much. On Thursday or Friday I thought my back was going out, but it was a little different from when this happens usually (I have a bad back and I'm very familiar with what it feels like when it starts to get weird and then I either rest and take muscle relaxants and NSAIDs or I end up having to REALLY take it easy because my body will not let me do anything else), more pain along my left side and in my low back on that side. I looked it up, it aligned with the symptoms for sciatica, I did a lot of stretching, and it got better. 

I had occupational therapy today and I asked my OT about this. What I learned was that for breast cancer patients like me, the drugs you go on for five years are basically trying to remove all the estrogen from your body. However, estrogen has a role in LOTS of things in your body (bones! muscles! ligaments! joints!) so this process is a little complicated for a body. Eventually things will even out, my body will figure out how it works without estrogen. This could take a year. It could take a couple of years. While I'm going through this process, my body isn't going to work quite the way that I'm used to it working. I'll be more prone to injuries. I'll need to stretch more. I'll have pain that I didn't used to have. I'll need to watch out for overdoing it because every system is going through a major shift. We're focusing on strength and stability and stretching in my sessions, and I'm getting used to the new normal. 

Normal is a thing that is constantly shifting. It's such a relief to know what's going on, though. It wasn't particularly stressful, I've had a year to get used to "sometimes things hurt that didn't used to hurt" and "sometimes you're just going to be really uncomfortable and you might not know specifically why but generally, it's everything you're going through." But this isn't anything they can really prepare you for when you start taking this medication. You are told that there are potential side effects. They list the side effects. The focus is on the effect on the cancer, not on your everyday life as you continue into the future. It's so, so important to work with those supportive teams that aren't the main teams. 

I will say it again: If you ever go through this and the place you're going has PT and OT that are specific to your cancer, get a referral as soon as you can. Your main team (surgeon, oncologist, radiation oncologist) will get you through the big stuff, but the little stuff is just as important to your quality of life in the times after the big stuff.