chemotalk blog

Chemo and osteoporosis

2008-04-30T16:51:00.000-07:00

If anyone told me chemo causes osteoporosis, I Know I would have remembered. I just found out yesterday. I'm waiting to hear if my oncologist thinks there's anything I can do to reverse it, or at least stop it, or even slow it down. But if I knew last year what I just learned, I would have waited to have my knee replaced. Aging was already nudging me toward arthritis, but chemo put it into overdrive. Joints I didn't even know I had before chemo, and the knew knee hurts enough to require pain meds The first thing I thought was that while I'm climbing around the hill behind my house to clear brush, I could break something and wind up yelling "Help, I've fallen and I can't get up!..." I plan to ask my doctor lots of questions, but if any of you have thought this through, please let me know what you've done to maximize flexibility and minimize pain. Or if anyone is having success treating chemo-originating osteoporosis - if you know about something out there that strengthens bones - please let me know.

www.chemotalk.com

2008-04-22T17:27:00.000-07:00

In case you landed on this blog without going through my website, the site is www.chemotalk.com, and I invite you to check it out and let me know what you think, and how you think it could be better.

Also if you want to know Anything about cancer, the most common condition for which chemo is prescribed...and if you want to find it quickly online, on a site that makes it easy to get around, I highly recommend www.cancer.net. The organizations associated with this site have access to the newest and the best.

Hair

2008-04-22T17:11:00.000-07:00

All the women I know - and a lot of men, too - are obsessed with their hair. I would like to think that because my hair came back thin, and with a mind of its own, it was a chemo after-effect. I wish. It's genetics, just as it was in my 20s when I started going really gray. I haven't seen the real color of my hair since I was a sophomore in high school, but I'm guessing it pretty much matches... y'know. Truth is, after chemo my hair didn't come back the way it used to be because it started falling out around menopause. I realize my mother had the same problem, although she was far to vain to admit it. So I'm thinking extensions. I don't give up easily. On the other hand, I looked really good bald. So here's my final take on hair: if I have to go through chemo again, I'll go bald right away. In the meantime, I'm getting into cool hats.

Musings are more than appropriate on this site. Great ideas come out of thoughts like "what if?" Put it out there!