TMI

Too much information or TMI seems to not be the case when it comes to young women diagnosed with Breast Cancer! I have found that a lot of the questions that I, as a young woman, have were NEVER answered, or were unknown, or just too embarrassing to talk about! My first example of this was during the “Look good Feel Good” class that I had attended just after my Double Mastectomy and before Chemo. I walked into the class, expecting to see all sorts of women from different walks of life, different types of cancer, and in different stages of treatment. What I didn't expect is to be the youngest one by 27 years! A lot of the questions rolling through my mind, non of the women wanted to talk about because, well they were older and the older generation tends to keep more quietly about private things.

I need to know over takes the too much information, especially when people are not comfortable talking about it! What was going to happen to my skin, what was going to happen with the hair (EVERYWHERE), what was going to happen with my nails, what happens during the chemo treatments, what happens after your in remission?! SO many questions and a lot of which I had to find out my self, through Google, doctors (those that have NEVER personally been through what you are about to go through), books, and chatting online! Why is it so much work to really find all the answers that you want?

Well I am going to talk about some of these questions that no one likes to talk about!! (Please note, I am NOT a medical professional and you need to contact a medical professional regarding and concerns, questions or fears you have for your particular treatment!! I am simply expressing my views on these subjects!!)

1) Will I lose my hair (all of it)?

Answer – It all depends on the strength and type of the chemo. IF you lose the hair on your head, expect to lose all of your hair! It may just thin, you may lose it all, but at any rate if the doctors tell you to expect to lose your hair, expect to lose it, it is not often that the doctors are wrong in this instance. (New technology is currently being tested to try and prevent hair loss during chemo, so keep checking the news!!)

2) What will happen to my skin?

Answer – Remember, chemo is something that kills of all types of cells, this slows the growth of new cells also! So your skin can be WAY more sensitive to every day products that you use. Example, I could only use baby shampoo and bath wash during treatment because I would break out from other soaps! There are medications that are also given during chemo that can affect your skin, maybe causing rashes, hives, blistering, dryness, and just redness. Some of the medications like steroids that are added with chemo can really affect these things!

(My skin dry, pale and my eye swelling due to medication reactions)

3) What will happen with my nails?

Answer – This is somewhat the same as the previous question, your nails grow because of new cells. So some of the chemo can actually prevent your nails from growing and in some instances can make your nails turn black and/or even fall off. Yep I had this happen, and they are now growing back beautifully! This was absolutely the most shocking to me; the hair loss was easy compared to my nails! When the nails fall off the nail bed itself is often very tender and strange feeling…

(My nails starting to separate from skin and fall off)

What happens during chemo treatments?

Answer – Not much! I expected to go into this (typically) large room and see everyone throwing up, or deathly looking, or even so out of it that they seemed like a different person. In reality, not much of this is happening! I had to sit from morning until mid-late afternoon and it was pretty uneventful the whole time! There is a lot of talking, reading, studying, sleeping and visiting. There was not a lot of anything different happening other than everyone is hooked up to medications! 

(below is a link to view my first chemo treatment)

1st Chemo Treatment

Will I get sick right away?

Answer – Not necessarily! There are a LOT of medications and combinations of medications that can keep you from getting sick! I only had a few days of getting sick during my first treatment, after that it was just nausea. I was typically okay the first day (treatment day) and after that, I would sleep for 5-7 days and then would be able to function pretty close to normal until the next treatment! It was a lot less eventful than expected in my instance because we were able to find the right combination of medications that worked for me right off the bat!

Can I get pregnant during chemo treatments?

Answer – YES!!! You can!! Do you want to? NO!!!! You need to be very careful NOT to get pregnant during chemo treatments as it can seriously cause harm to you and/or your baby! Please speak with your doctor about this if you are still able to have children…

Okay, obviously there are tons more questions, but I can not cover all of them in one blog, if YOU have a question feel free to post it below, or send it to me via email: olsenjesi@gmail.com

Please note: If you have a question, it doesn't necessarily have to be one that YOU want the answer too, it could be one that you just want others to know the answer too! TMI does NOT apply here! Anything goes! And I will Blog more questions as they arrive!