when i was getting my chemotherapy, i was NOT informed that permanent hair loss was a possible side effect of the drug taxotere. taxotere is considered a sort of " gold standard" in the treatment of breast cancer. as i have mentioned before, my oncologist stopped my taxotere ( bless him) because of neuropathy in some of my toes and fingers. this happened half way through my treatments. although he did change that particular drug to adriamycin, which is affectionately known as the " red devil", it does not cause, at least to my knowledge, permanent hair loss. i might mention that three of my toes are still numb, and probably will always be that way. at least the feeling came back in my fingers. it would be hard to type this blog if they were still numb (!).
a group of courageous, persistent women known as the "taxotears" brought forth a lawsuit to force the manufacturer of the drug taxotere to make the side effect of permanent hair loss known to chemotherapy patients. this was only just implemented in november of 2015.
about ten days after my first round of chemotherapy, my hair started coming out. my husband gave me a buzz cut, and i thought that would be good enough. but after my second round of the taxotere, i was shocked to find very tiny hairs- so many of them, in my little sleep cap beanie. long story short( i think that there is a pun here ), i ended up as bald as a bald eagle- no, that is not quite right- they have feathers. as bald as an eight ball, as smooth as a bowling ball, as slick as an ice cube, well, you get the picture.
some people might think that this would be the least of my problems at this point. but, having lost both breasts and being bald on top of that. well, let's just say my self image had just taken a major hit. it took quite a while, i think, for my hair to start growing back. i believe that my husband was getting worried,too, although he always tries to be encouraging. it has been about five months since my last chemotherapy treatment. my hair has come back super curly, but is still super short. sometimes i get scared and tell my husband that perhaps it has stopped growing? he always tells me, " oh, sweetie, it is growing back! all the curls just make it look shorter than it really is." he is a really sweet man.
for a newly diagnosed breast cancer patient, taxotere will most certainly be the drug of first choice. some women have reported some success in keeping their hair using a " cold cap". these are expensive, and do not always work. since women do lose their hair with the taxotere, ( i also had cytoxan with every chemotherapy treatment, and this can cause temporary hair loss) how do you know if the hair loss will be permanent? good question. i am not sure if there is, or will be, an answer to this. it does make the " cold cap" product seem a bit more desirable, though.
would i have done anything differently with my treatment had i had the correct side effect information about the taxotere? i am not sure. i suppose that i should be grateful that the neuropathy stopped my treatment with this particular drug. even though my hair is more like the turtle than the hare in the hair growing race, at least i have a little. for that, i am thankful. slow and steady wins the race, i guess.
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