Zometa/Femora

My mother has breast cancer that has also spread to the bone (80 years old). The doc chose not to do the surgery due to her age. The size of the tumor would have meant a complete mastectomy and the doc didn't think she would do well after that and instead is using these drugs to shrink the tumor, which has been working. She now can lift her arm over her head and before the drugs she couldn't lift her arm more than 3 inches from her side.

But here's the thing,,,,she is constantly getting urinary track infections and it seems its from these drugs as I have read other women have experienced the same problem and if I remember correctly the insert of one of the drugs lists UTI as a possible sx. Has anyone else experienced this and if so, have you found a remedy? Going on an off antibiotics is certainly not good, but its her only choice at this point. There are nights where she gets absolutely no sleep whatsoever because she is feeling abdominal pressure and is running to the bathroom literally every 5 minutes ALL night. The doctor says its not from the meds!  We know there has to be a link and would appreciate any advice.

Thanks.
MO

[Dr_Aparna]

Hi,
Other common Zometa side effects (occurring in 8 to 20 percent of people) included:
Bladder infection (urinary tract infection or UTI) .ZOMETA is also used to treat other cancers—including breast‚ lung and prostate cancer—that have spread to the bones‚ a process called bone metastasis. When cancer has spread to the bone‚ treatment with ZOMETA helps to protect bones and may reduce or delay such complications as:
Bone fracture
Need for radiation and/or surgery to bone
Spinal cord compression
ref:http://www.us.zometa.com/info/therapy/
http://cancer.emedtv.com/zometa/zometa-side-effects.html
As long she is on this , she will experience this side-effect .Anti-biotics are the only way to treat UTI's.

[Myown]

Thank you so much for your answer. Then I guess its just something that she will have to put up with and take the antibiotics. The tough part is not getting any sleep the entire night when this happens. Thats hard for anyone of any age, but at her age, it is even harder. For some reason her doc says its not the meds, but obviously it is - appreciate your answer.

Thanks again Doc!