If you have been diagnosed with breast cancer and are undergoing Taxotere (docetaxel) chemotherapy treatments, you are all too familiar with bad days. Taxotere has been known to cause burning, tingling or numbness in your appendages due to nerve damage. You might feel so tired that just getting out of bed to use to bathroom is a great victory. Or maybe your feet and hands are swollen and uncomfortable. Cancer sucks, and enduring these bad days is the horrible journey that it takes to kill the cancerous cells to find your way back to health and normalcy.
One of hardest aspects about chemotherapy is that just when you start to feel better, it’s time to go back in for another round. Also, chemotherapy is cumulative which means that the first one of two doses may not seem that bad, but as more of this poison is introduced into your body to kill the cancer, the weaker and more sick you become.
Breast cancer survivor Ann Silberman shares this about her bad days fighting breast cancer:
“I've been having a bad cancer day… I'm tired. My shoulder hurts more than normal, and I feel very frustrated being in chronic pain for so long. It's not fair after what I've been through to have to deal with this arm/shoulder problem too. I waited so long for hair - and I still haven't been able to comb it! The pain prevents me from sleeping at night but I have to nap when I get home, which means no time for my family. I've suddenly become very bloated (or fat) and can no longer fit into any of my clothes. And, because I have no right arm strength, I can't even try to button tight pants. Which is a problem since I have to pee all the time.”
Does this sound familiar? Here are some ways to battle your bad days during chemo treatments:
