My chemotherapy treatments...
2007-03-10 20:36:00
I'm going back to share my experience now because the emotional pain and suffering I had from breast cancer has subsided. I still cry when I share tell my story, but I no longer feel like a victim to cancer.In June 2005, I started chemotherapy
. My oncologist recommended I start chemo first then have surgery. I had to undergo 8 rounds of chemo, once every two weeks. It was called dose-dense. I was on three rounds of AC, three rounds of Taxotere, then the rest on Taxol. I can still remember it like it was just yesterday. The first round of chemo wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I wasn't that sick. I was thinking I can do this. Chemo was not that bad. Boy, was I wrong. The second round hit me hard. My red blood cells were low so I was given a shot of Procrit. I normally got sick on the third day. I would go in for treatment on a Thursday, get the Procrit shot on Friday (if necessary), and then sick in bed for 3-5 days. My next round, I didn't get the Procrit shot. I still f
Side effects of chemotherapy...
2007-03-11 21:46:00
My nurse told me I would lose my hair in two weeks. Sue enough, she was right. My hair was originally down to my back. Before I started chemo, I cut my hair twice. Once to my shoulders and then really short. Like Halle Berry short. It was a nice change. I never had really short hair so it was neat to see how I looked in short hair. When my hair started to fall out, I asked my husband to shave it all off. It was a sad experience for my husband and for myself. As her started to shave, tears just came tumbling down. I think it killed him to have to do it and to see me cry. Emotionally it was hard, but it was mentally easier on me to do that then wake up one morning and not have hair. It took me a week before I could get myself to look in the mirror. I was bald, sick, and ugly. That's how I felt. I used to be this cute, petite women and now I felt so ugly. I stayed home most of the time because I didn't want to be in public. When I did go out, I just wore hats. It wa
Read more: chemotherapy
Choosing the right surgery - Lumpectomy or Mastectomy
2007-08-22 17:20:00
Choosing the type of surgery is a very difficult decision. At first, I was adamant about saving my breast. I didn't want a mastectomy, let alone saying that horrible word. Because I had cancer for 3 years and the cancer was invasive, my doctor recommended a mastectomy. However, since the tumor reduced in size after chemotherapy, my doctor allowed me to choose a lumpectomy. There were two things that helped me with my decision of a mastectomy. 1 - I was so sick from the chemotherapy that I didn't want to take a chance of getting cancer again. 2 - I met several breast cancer survivor that had a lumpectomy and then the cancer came back. Due to my age and wanting to have more kids, I decided to reduce my chance of re-occurrence by choosing a mastectomy. I'm very happy with my decision today. Depending on the type of cancer and stage of the cancer, it's best to discuss the best options with your doctor.
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