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Effects Of Chemotherapy
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My mum was diagnosed with early breast cancer in November. She had a lumpectomy and has been having chemotherapy since the first week of January-and she is going onto have radiotherapy afterwards . She has just had her 3rd chemo treatment of 4 and she's not been having the best time with it.
She's 66yrs old but when I saw her yesterday she looks like she's aged 10years in just a few weeks.
Her most recent treatment was on Monday so yesterday she wasn't feeling very well and she has lost her hair and a lot of her eyebrows which obviously makes a difference .
So I'm wondering if once she finishes her treatment she will look like herself again or if this is a long term effect of the chemo. I feel so sorry for her having to go through this .
She's 66yrs old but when I saw her yesterday she looks like she's aged 10years in just a few weeks.
Her most recent treatment was on Monday so yesterday she wasn't feeling very well and she has lost her hair and a lot of her eyebrows which obviously makes a difference .
So I'm wondering if once she finishes her treatment she will look like herself again or if this is a long term effect of the chemo. I feel so sorry for her having to go through this .
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For more on marking an answer as the "Best Answer", please visit our FAQ.It is very debilitating and you have to be very careful about infection...stay away from coughs and sneezes...etc...she will get over the treatment and hair will come back but probably differently...usually a bit curly or wavy for some reason ... eyebrows can be problematic and I know one lady had them tattooed very nicely.. she will be very tired and a bit weepy..just try and treat her the same but allowances for low mood and fatigue.... a wee treat or two a couple of days after a treatment to raise her spirits....radiotherapy can be a bit more stressful...just be there ..good luck...xx
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Thankyou everyone . I don't think it was her hairloss so much. I think it was her skin colour that was probably making her look older than her years and being a bit swollen from steriod treatment. I'm not sure how healthily she is eating at the moment as I know the advice is usually to eat fresh, organic produce.
Jenarry tbh (and having been there as a carer) I would get her whatever she fancies to eat regardless of what it is. If her appetite is poor (and maybe her sense of taste has been affected) eating anything is better than eating nothing. If what she fancies is not an especially good diet then add in a vitamin supplement.
She's had "lumpectomy" or what we call these days WLE (wide local excision) with [presumably] sentinel node biopsy. This tells me it was not a locally advanced cancer and so I'm assuming she's on a standard 6 x 3-weekly FEC regime.
Side effects vary from person to person but they can add in GCSF injections if she's struggling. They can dose reduce her 75% if she's struggling at full doses.
She needs to speak to the Triage Team immediately in the presence of any infective symptoms. Get her to keep checking her temperature.
Side effects vary from person to person but they can add in GCSF injections if she's struggling. They can dose reduce her 75% if she's struggling at full doses.
She needs to speak to the Triage Team immediately in the presence of any infective symptoms. Get her to keep checking her temperature.