Hip Replacement Surgery

Has anybody had major surgery while taking Ibrance. I am having my surgery next week. My oncologist said to stop I dance two weeks before and today he told me I couldn’t take it for two weeks after. ?? I thought I would be able to start it right away. Really nervous being off the Ibrance for so long. I was off two weeks while my blood came up, two weeks before and now it will be two after. 6 weeks sounds like a long time to not take my Ibrance. Will this mean my cancer may progress? Worried sick. 😞

[Barbteeth]

Hi Sarcei

I’ve just had minor surgery to cement my fractured vertebrae and neither the surgeon or oncologist suggested I stop Ibrance

However your hip replacement is more invasive I suppose and they’re worried about infection if your white cells are low..however it seems strange that you can’t restart the Ibrance afterwards

I would probably feel the same as you do..however I’ve had to stop for 3 weeks once when blood counts were too low and my oncologist didn’t seem too concerned..are you on the 125mg dose?

Barb xx

[Hidden in reply to Barbteeth]

I recently dropped to 100mg because I was off 3 weeks each month to get my levels back up. I’m going to make an appointment with my family doctor for a week after and hopefully she can contact my oncologist if the wound is looking good. I don’t want to be off the Ibrance for 6 weeks.

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

Have you expressed your concern to your doctor to give him a chance to explain? I recently had a tooth pulled and was off Ibrance for 2 weeks. It’s not 6 weeks but it was only a tooth. Your doctor probably wants to make sure you heal well and your immune system can deal with the aftermath of surgery and resist infection. I think your doctor is being proactive about your recovery. You will feel better after expressing your concerns and getting a reassuring rationale for stopping the Ibrance for 6 weeks. Good luck with everything.

[PJBinMI]

Ibrance is a fairly new drug, and is given along with either an AI or Faslodex. For those of us who have been dealing with E + mbc for a number of years, we managed to do well without Ibrance! AIs and Faslodex have been the go-to meds for those of us with an E + her2neu - mbc who are past menopause for a long time. Personally, I wouldn't get too concerned about being off Ibrance for a few weeks. There are times when we need a break from a drug for one reason or another and it doesn't mean that the cancer cells are going to suddenly jump into action and grow and spread and ruin our health! It's certainly okay to call your onc and ask more about this, or call the specialty pharmacy pharmacist. Part of me wants to shake you newbies and tell you that Ibrance is way over rated and alot of the cancer control you are getting is from the anti-hormonal you are taking, but that would be mean and I don't want to be mean! When I was newly diagnosed and saw a bc specialist onc, she told me that when the meds like Femara, Arimidex, Aromasin (the 3 AIs) and Faslodex work, they usually work for years not months. Ibrance just added months in the clinical trials. I got almost five years from Femara and over 9 years from Faslodex, and now have been on Aromasin since the beginning of this year. Not that that is anything more than anecdotal...... It may help you relax about being off a med for awhile to remember that we are in this for the long haul and that there will be little glitches along the way, but it really helps our quality of life to focus on the big picture and not the little bumps in the road.

[blms in reply to PJBinMI]

I happen to agree concerning the hormonal drug protection

[Purple60 in reply to PJBinMI]

Dear PJBinMI I couldn’t agree with you more that the AIs and other anti-hormonal agents have done very well by many women with mBc. Your explanation and experience is invaluable here! I only ask though to remember that everyone is different and everyone’s cancer is different even if it is ER+ HER2-. Having said that, I think saying Ibrance is overrated could be a stretch too far. It is not a cure but it is a striking improvement in treatment for women like us in a long time. The clinical trial data is clear on this. So for those of us who are relatively new to this disease we hold the effects of Ibrance in high regard. I don’t blame Sarcie and others for being trepidatious about stopping even if it is a short time period. I am struggling with the same but in the end, for me, I would elect to have my hip treated and stop the Ibrance for the very reasons you cite about protection with hormonal therapy. Thank you for providing insights and sharing your AMAZING outcome. I am very encouraged!

[Hidden in reply to Purple60]

I believe Ibrance is doing wonders in the treatment of breast cancer. It certainly does have to work in conjunction with Letrozole or one of these drugs but it is showing amazing progress for many. I always have to stop it for three weeks each month due to low neutrophils but bring off it two months has been nerve racking. See my GP tomorrow to get my staples out and hoping to restart my Ibrance then.

[NPmary]

I've had to be off Ibrance for 3 weeks and had no progression. Try not to worry so much, if your hip gets infected because you're on Ibrance it could certainly lead to permanent disabilityyy or more surgery or death!!!

[Selmac]

Sarcie, while on Ibrance a Dr fractured my hip doing a bone biopsy. I had to have a hip replacement. I was only off Ibrance 4 days after surgery because I wasn't eating and stomach was upset from pain pills. However, my counts were never low so take that into consideration.

[Jnprsn]

Hi Sarcie,

I had a hip replacement surgery in April due to progression there. Try not to worry about being off Ibrance. Chemo stays in your system long after you've stopped taking it. Infection can be deadly also so better safe than sorry. Best of luck with your hip surgery.

[Hidden in reply to Jnprsn]

Hip surgery seems to have been a success. Recovery was going ok but after 2 weeks having more pain. See my family doc tomorrow to have the staples removed. It will be 2 mi the off the Ibrance next week and just want to get back to fighting this cancer. So very tired after surgery and not sleeping well. Feeling overwhelmed with all the hip related stuff and then cancer is always on the mind. Not doing much to help my depression.

[Rhwright12]

Praying for great surgical outcomes...was off Herceptin and Parjeta for 6 weeks when I had a mastectomy in March...numbers still went down in spite of being off meds...but I understand the concern. I was always taught that surgery spreads it! ...but it doesn’t usually....

Prayers to u! 🙏🏻💕