jackieb's Cancer Blog
July 18, 2010
Hi again! I am not due for another scan until September, but I thought that after all the agonizing I did about the mysteries of the recovery process while I was still in treatment, I should give some updates about how my chemo recovery has gone.
1. Hair regrowth!
I kept really horrible accounting of this, but let’s see…. after the final chemo, my hair did not instantly begin to grow back, and due to this, I became very impatient and complained at everyone for several weeks while I waited for action. I think it took about three weeks before anything happened whatsoever, but even so, I seem to recall deciding to go scarfless with a shocking military-esque buzzcut looking length around early April, which was about two months after final chemo. Now, six months after final chemo, I think I have about 2 or 3 inches of hair, which is curly and pointing in various directions. It is precisely the same hair I always had, in terms of color, texture, and belligerence. So, nothing too exciting, but it’s good to have it back. I am not a huge fan of the super-short length, but other people seem to be. Interestingly, the incredibly short hair has drawn semi-frequent comments from strangers—something the scarf never did because it was more obviously ‘medical.’
2. Port removal!
This was not entirely trouble-free—some of my dissolving stitches didn’t dissolve, so I had to go back in to the doctor to have them yanked out. I needlessly waited like a month to do this, thinking maybe they just weren’t done “processing” yet and would eventually loosen up and fall out. This was apparently not the right plan. Dissolving stitches are supposed to dissolve pretty fast, I guess. One thing to note is that after the port came out, I stopped having the breathing problems that had popped up in March that were mimicking the ones that had gotten me diagnosed, so I think those may have been related to inflammation from my immune system booting back up and discovering a foreign object in my body (my port) and starting a fight with it.
3. Menopause!
Not permanent! My cycle restarted in June, about four months after final chemo. It is now back to normal.
4. Energy/Moods/Etc?
I had read in various places that it’s fairly common to go into an emotional slump after going into remission from cancer—the thing you were dedicating energy to fighting is suddenly gone, but even so there are no guarantees of a lifetime of good health, and you still look and feel pretty weird and out of touch. Also, you suddenly feel kind of guilty for making other people worry about you for so long.
I was mostly able to stave this off by going on a quest for The Perfect New Apartment and participating in a student dance performance (which was sort of a “reverse bucket list” item for me—something to do upon being set free to go live my life again!) Anyway, once the apartment hunt and the performance were over, I did get sort of droopy and lethargic anyway, but it seemed within the margin of error for things going on in my life at the time other than being on the mend from chemo/cancer. I think I’d still recommend launching oneself into some interesting project upon completing chemo as a way to stave off the post-treatment blues, because it did seem to work until other stuff started happening.
5. Insane paranoia
Still comes and goes. I am now inescapably convinced that every random sniffle is More Cancer, but at the same time aware that it is irrational to assume that my low-recurrence-risk cancer will come back and I should thus try to “catch it.” I also have spent a small amount of time obsessing about how I got it in the first place—not -that- much time, but enough to come up with the following list:
1. Straightforward DNA time bomb
2. Overactive immune system which manifested as eczema and skin allergies had been spawning More Immune Cells Than Average, (???) making them More Likely To Go Bad (?!?)
3. Eating too much soup (carcinogens in canned food)
4. Usually not washing fruit before eating it (oh god the pesticides I must have devoured)
5. Prolonged proximity to particle board furniture (supposedly another carcinogen)
6. Frequently keeping the lights on late at night (there was apparently a study about this…)
7. That terrible sunburn I got last July (radiation to the chest)
8. Microwaving “microwave safe” plastic containers (not safe enough?)
9. Eating at Mc.Donalds an awful lot that year and general excessive intake of heavily processed foods (full of ingredients that aren’t really food)
10. Not flossing enough, leading to chronic gingivitis (prolonged untreated infections are a possible cause of lymphoma)
11. Drinking gallons upon gallons of diet soda in my lifetime (if fake sugar is wrong, I don’t want to be right)
...Honestly, a better question would be “What HADN’T I been doing that would expose me to possible carcinogens?” I think the only offense I didn’t hit regularly was smoking cigarettes…
Of course I’ll probably never know where it came from, and I certainly haven’t switched over to a diet and lifestyle that is free of potential carcinogenic pollutants… At this point, I’m pretty much just trying to eat more fruit and vegetables and drink more green tea and hoping to get away with it.
Anyway, since the purpose of this post is to document how long it took various things to return to normal, let me know if you have any questions related to post-treatment recovery. There are probably issues I forgot to mention because I’ve forgotten a lot of the things I was concerned with/anxious to know about during treatment.
March 25, 2010
My scan was clear! No cancer!
I’m done with treatment!
Posted on Jackie
YIPPEE I am so very happy for your VICTORY!God Bless
Sharon
Posted on Jackie! Thank God! That is fantastic and I’m very happy for you and proud of you. Chemo is no picnic, and you are stronger for the journey!
God Bless, and enjoy the feeling!
Posted on That is great..love your sense of humor.you are too funny hang in there. Blessings, Lori in az
Posted on Ah, another reminder to us all to be careful what we pray for, because God DOES answer! Congratulations!
Yeah girlfriend!
Posted on I am now doing the happy dance. Picture Yogi bear and riverdance…there an image that will haunt you!
Beyond happy for you
Mac
Posted on 
Posted on Great! Congratulations!
Pat
Congratulations, Warrior.
You did it.
Way to go.
Jill
Posted on What a praise! We have been praying for you since the beginning. My sister was diagnosed with Non-Hodkin Lymphoma about 1 month after you and I believe your Aunt (in Cleveland, OH) told my sister about your blog. It has been an encouragement along our journey to read your story and know what was coming. It helped us out tremendously to know what questions to ask the doctor. I would check all the time to make sure all was well on your end and we’re shouting praises to our King of King that you are CANCER FREE! Thank you for sharing and being so honest about the day to day struggles of chemo.
~Melanie
dx stage3c colon ca at age 34
3rd child was only 6 mos. old at the time
I will be 37 next month :)
NED (no evidence of disease)
I had 14 out of 32+ lymph nodes
I qualied for clinical drug study for Erbitux…
had chemo for 6 mos. plus the Erbitux
I have permanent neuropathy (hands & feet)..toxic nerve damage…but I am still here! Dr. was very aggressive w/ chemo. No radiation. Not needed as 4-6cm tumor was in sigmoid colon & was resected. No colostomy. Knock on wood, cured! Same for you! :)
Posted on what great news!.....feels good, doesn’t it???
Congrats on being done with treatment. May you continue on to a long and happy life.
As for your intuition being shot – I don’t know you but doubt that it is shot. Treatment screws up a lot of things but I don’t see how it could screw our intuition. Intuition is like a short wave radio-we can pick up signals from all over the world but that doesn’t mean we will understand them. Listening comes first, then comprehension. Sometimes we never understand. We may know something is wrong but not know what. If we tell a good doc. that something is really wrong, there’s a good chance they will help us find it. Always better than ignoring it.
Peace
jf
Posted on 
Thanks for your support - 
Hello Jackie and many thanks for the information.
For myself..I am vegetarian and always have been…never touched junk food or smoked..refused to sit in areas where people smoked..drank 2 litres a day of bottled water..FRESH orange juice…Slim, excercised…weights, swam. yoga …yearly checks mammos etc…and I still ended up with advanced grade IV breast cancer…
I have started my second round of chemo and waiting for my hair to fall once more…people say ‘Oh when it grows back it will be healthier and curly’...WRONG….I had fabulous hair, what has grown back cannot be described….anyway hair is not the issue or it should ‘nt be…but I really do not want to be bald again.
Keeep strong
dani xx
Hey Jackie,
So nice to see that you are doing well and have re-entered real life. Keeping ourselves completely away from carcinogens is pretty much impossible. Who can afford all hand-built furniture without particle board? Then there are the stains … Anyway, I am glad that you are healthy and your hair is making itself known (looks cute in the picture). Figuring that every twinge is Cancer Again comes with the territory.
Be well.
Andrea
Hi Jackie,
Thanks for both a very informative post, and for making me laugh (nervously I guess, since we share some of same suspicions about the origins of our respective cancers :-) ) I will share your list with my mom, whose first question after my diagnosis was But How did you get it? I told her the doctors are working around the clock on that question.
Keep getter better, and keep making other people laugh.
-Maria
Hi Jackie,
Long time since we’ve communicated. Glad to hear you’re doing fine, and I am as well.
I have some of the same issues… not so much the paranoia over every sniffle, but certainly over how it happened and trying to avoid it. Our two parallels are infections and diet soda… I’m now OCD about avoiding both.
My Brother In Law was just pronounced ‘cured’ 2 years after his last treatment!
Hang in there,
Bob
...good info Jackie….thanks for sharing…good luck in September..