They say hindsight is 20/20, and that’s never been more true then when I look back on my cancer journey. There are so many things I wish I’d known back then! It’s a blessing, however, to be able to share what I learned with others just starting their journeys. If what I now know can help you, it makes it all worth it!
1. Cancer treatments affect your whole body. Most of us worry about losing our hair, or feeling sick to our stomachs, but trust me, cancer treatments like chemotherapy and radiation can affect your whole body. Your appetite, your skin, your energy levels, and even your emotions can all be thrown off kilter. Get help early-even with the grocery shopping-and learning to be gentle with yourself.
2. Put yourself first. Many of us have work, family, and community commitments. When you’re diagnosed with cancer, you absolutely must put yourself first. Your medical care, home care, and emotional care must become your priorities, so you can get well.
3. Skin care is extremely important. Use lukewarm, not hot, water, and wash gently, patting dry. Moisturize moisturize moisturize every chance you get, and protect from the sun with hats, gloves, and long sleeves. Especially if you have scars, like I did, extra care is important!
4. Most personal care products are too harsh! Don’t be surprised if your regular soap, body wash, shave gel, makeup, and other products suddenly start to irritate and burn your skin. Many contain harsh chemicals and even potentially carcinogenic ingredients. When caring for my father during his battle with cancer, I bought him an expensive face cream that burned his skin. I wish I would have known! Now I read labels and buy only safe products.
5. Chemo rashes are not the same as acne. Many chemotherapy drugs can cause an acne-like rash, but this is not the same as regular acne. If you use harsh acne medications, you could make the situation worse, possibly even permanently scarring your skin. Try more natural remedies like soothing chamomile and water, an oatmeal paste on your face for 10 minutes, or an organic clay facial. Above all, be gentle!
6. Shop for a wig before you lose your hair. This is the best way to match your natural hair to your wig. If you wait until after your hair is gone, it will be harder to make it look the same.
7. You can relieve side effects. My father experienced hand and foot syndrome, and I found him one day just sitting in bed with his hands up, suffering. Please don’t ever do that! There are always things that can help. Ask your doctor and check online. (I have some great tips on my blog and in my book!) Pain only delays your recovery.
8. Choose the right kind of massage therapist. Massage can be a huge blessing during treatment. It eases stress and can help reduce side effects. If you go to someone who doesn’t know what he or she is doing, however, you could increase your risk of developing lymphedema. There are new oncology estheticians out there who are specifically trained to work with cancer patients. Ask for credentials, then lay back and enjoy.
9. Cold helps reduce hair loss and nail damage. Recent research has shown that applying cold to your fingers and head can help reduce hair loss and nail damage. The cold slows the blood flow to these areas, which means less of the chemotherapy drug can affect them. Studies show it really works! Try the “Elasto-Gel” flexible glove (available on Amazon), and the “DigniCap” made by Dignitana of Lund in Sweden.
10. Acupuncture improves post-chemotherapy fatigue. If you’ve gone through chemo, you know how draining it is. Studies have shown that acupuncture can help reduce that bone-deep fatigue by 30 percent! I really could have used that extra help!
11. Just because treatments are over doesn’t mean it’s “over.” One of the most difficult transitions in my life was going from cancer patient to cancer survivor. Everyone around me thought I should be fine, but I wasn’t! I wish I had known that those feelings are completely normal. It takes time to process it all-get help, and be patient with yourself.
12. Helping others helps you. As you work to recover after your cancer treatments are over, try to find a way to help others. Share your story, talk to the newly diagnosed, or volunteer somehow in your community. Giving back helps you redefine your purpose, and get back to living.
Have you learned things from your cancer journey you’d like to share? Please tell us!
Photo courtesy the Nelly Guaman via Flickr.com.
Britta, You are a beautiful soul to be helping so many people and sharing your knowledge and experience.
My problem is minor. I am looking for a shampoo that doesn’t make my scalp break out in little water blisters. I wash my hair every day. I used Head & Shoulders for years and my hair felt clean and healthy, but felt I needed something safer. I’ve tried Burt’s Bees with pomegranate and get the blisters, as well as the fact that my hair doesn’t feel clean. Where do I go from here?
Many thanks!
First, congratulations on making it through the battle and being a survivor!! 🙂
All these things are spot on, what I would add to the list:
– Get your hair cut short a week or more before starting chemo
That makes it a little easier if it starts falling out.
Then when it starts falling out, have your head shaved, check to
see if the cancer center or hospital has a spa
or salon that specializes in cancer patients.
I did this and though its still emotional it did make it
better, because I felt in control rather than it taking control over me.
– Ask your oncologist about Neuropathy and what you can do
if you start to get numbness in your hands and feet.
Ask about using LGlutamine and/ or Vitamin B supplements
Its a side effect that my doctors did not talk about, and
its one I am still dealing with four months after finishing chemo.
If I had started supplements at first sign I might have had less issue
with it but as we know, hind sight is 20/20.
This is a great article and I hope many are helped, and have
more hope going through the battle.
May you and all going through this find peace and happier days ahead!
Bless you for sharing this article 🙂
Hi, J.G. Constipation can be stubborn, especially if you’re going through cancer. Make sure you’re drinking enough water, and getting enough fiber in your daily diet. You may also want to try probiotics, either in supplement form or through daily servings of yogurt. Magnesium supplements may help, as low magnesium has been associated with constipation, as will regular exercise, even if it’s only a daily walk. Try a daily fish oil or flax oil supplement, and snack on prunes or raisins, which can both have a laxative effect. Senna is a natural laxative that you can use if nothing else is helping, or the herb cascara sagrada.
Pingback: 12 things I wish I knew before being diagnosed « scenesfromthechemoroom
These were all great. Thank you in particular for #11. I completed my treatments in January, and, just as I was adjusting back to life without cancer treatments and thinking I was cancer free, I found out I still had cancer and needed to go through treatment again. As I’m facing finishing another round of treatment, those around me think all should be fine, but I’m scared to death. So glad to know my feelings are normal!
Hi, Elizabeth. For sure your feelings are completely normal, especially considering you have already gone through the disappointment of a second treatment. I remember how my father would feel when the cancer came back—it was devastating! But he always managed to rally with the support of family and friends and his own endless strength. You should be so proud of yourself for having made it through two treatments. I hope you will celebrate and do something nice for yourself. Then I would recommend a couple books to you. Of course I’m going to encourage you to read mine—”When Cancer Hits” (available here: http://cincovidas.com/cv-press/book/) as I talk about the fear of recurrence and what you can do to cope. I’d also recommend “Picking Up the Pieces” (available here: http://www.amazon.com/Picking-Up-Pieces-Forward-Surviving/dp/0813540364). Good luck and keep us posted!
I was stunned to find that BPA may interfere with some chemo treatments. If I have to take chemo, then gosh darn it I want it to be effective!! Seems as if some institutions take the approach of not wanting to scare cancer patients, when most patients I know will do everything possible to have the opportunity to be a survivor.
Britta – these tips are fantastic. Thanks so much for sharing them as they will certainly help others.
***Yes Yes Yes to the acupuncture! My acupuncturist has been a wonderful resource for ‘whole body care’- treating the spirit as well as the body. I experienced increased strength and resolve after starting acupuncture during chemo (ABVD) for Hodgkins Lymphoma. I also think that it cut my fatigue in half.
** I also want to stress to ALWAYS talk to your nurses about your symptoms. I thought that there was nothing to be done for mouth sores and suffered in pain (and developed Thrush) for two treatments until my nurse said: “What on earth is wrong? You have mouth sores??? Why didn’t you tell us? We have Magic Mouthwash for that!” It is a combination of Malox, viscous Lidocane, Benedryl and an antibiotic that I swish and swallow. It made all the difference!
*** Lastly, I’d like to dispel the stereotype of the skinny, gaunt chemo patient. I gained 20 pounds during a six month treatment and I know that I am not alone. Between being pumped with steroids, going through temporary menopause with Lupron, and being inactive there is no way to avoid it. But please know, it will come off when life begins to calm down for you after treatment! Don’t stress about it 🙂
I’m very glad you mentioned acupuncture! A friend told me before I started chemo that it helped alot to reduce nausia for her husband. And it also helped with a number of other side effects such as acid reflux, fatigue, and muscle soreness. My acupuncturist is also my chiropractor, and she was just as important as my oncologist in my medical team. In fact she phoned me before any of my other doctors did when the first CT results came in. She was faxed every document, test results, and blood tests that there were about me. *Important if you are going to do acupuncture that your blood levels have to be a certain level before you can recieve it.*
Here are a few other things that I wish I knew as well:
If the cancer clinic you are going to isn’t offering anti-nausients ask for them! My clinic gave them to everyone by IV before starting the chemo, and sent everyone home with 2 or 3 days worth. A friend of
mine who underwent chemo in a different province wasn’t given anti-nausients before or after treatment, and she got extremely ill from the chemo, spending 8 hours a day for several days throwing up. I told her to ask her doctor for them, and they were happy to give them to her.
I wish I would have known more about the other side effects as well which were far worse than losing my hair. I finished chemo 13 and a half months ago and about a month to a month and a half after starting chemo my upper legs started to get extremely painful and my feet and hands went numb. Then with only 2 treatments left my right leg, where I was experiencing pain, went numb. My hands returned to normal within a month of finishing, the numbness left my leg about 7 months later, but they still get extremely painful at times, and numb during some exercises or if I’m not sitting properly, and my feet are still numb, but I have feeling in my left 4th toe :).
I also wish I would have exercised more! Just simple, low impact stretches. I had a PICC line and lost 80 % of the strength in that arm, and I’m still struggling with it. And exercising helps my legs tremendously. Also, I think that the fatigue wouldn’t be as bad now if I would have exercised then.
And I also which they would have explained more about the steriods and possible weight gain. I gained 50 lbs in 6 months! And I haven’t lost very much of it.
See what programs and materials are available to you at your cancer clinic. Mine had a library, nutrition seminars, and the “Look Good Feel Better” program as well. Mine even lent out wigs to patients, and volunteers from the Cancer Society would give rides to and from treatments and appointments.
These are great tips. I knew quite a bit, or thought I did, before my diagnosis since my mom had just gone through cancer. When it’s YOU, it’a a whole new “ballgame.” These tips are sure to help others. I think number 11 is the one that surprised me the most. Glad you get it. Thanks!