 Being diagnosed with breast cancer at any age is difficult. Being diagnosed with breast cancer during your pregnancy can make that difficultly paramount. In this blog, we will be discussing pregnant associated breast cancer and its realities.
We hope that if you've been reading our blog consistently, or have stumbled upon it recently, that there are few things we always want our readers to walk away with; that early detection is key, no one determines how you fight your battle, and to eliminate the stigma that breast cancer only appears later in life. While it is more common to be diagnosed with breast cancer after menopause, we hope that you've seen in our blogs that it is more common than you'd think to be diagnosed at a much younger age. Even more eye-opening, you can be diagnosed during your pregnancy. Just like any condition, there are plenty of rumors and myths floating around the internet. One that we've debunked before is that pregnancy and breastfeeding can cause cancer. While the two are not related, it is still possible to be diagnosed with breast cancer during your pregnancy.
Being diagnosed with breast cancer at this point in your life can come with a huge mix of emotions, ranging from joy of expecting your first child to the fear and panic of what could happen next. Please know you are not alone, and that there are many positive options to keep both you and your baby safe and healthy. Never hesitate to reach out to us if you have any questions or concerns, and know we are always here for you!  Continuing with the second part of our Beauty Regimes During Treatment blog, we want to touch on care for your hair, your nails, and beauty product options.
We are back with the second part of our Beauty Regime blog, with tips and suggestions on how to make yourself physically feel better during and after treatment. In the first part of this blog, we talked about mental health, skincare, and beauty products that can make a world of difference. They can help you feel more comfortable, more at ease, and feel more like you. For this blog, we are going to be adding a few more tips for makeup, regrowth of your hair, and caring for your nails. Your hair and nails are sometimes the two biggest factors during treatment where you will see effects before anywhere else in your body. Depending on how you react to treatment, as you know, you can begin to lose hair all over your body, not just on your head. It is already difficult to lose your hair, but attention needs to be drawn to the difficulties of losing your eyebrows, your eyelashes, and even your arm hair. It's a hard adjustment and can make you feel a little out of touch from your own body. The same goes for your nails. Unless you're within the circle of diagnosis, treatment, and survivorhood, how chemo and treatment affect your nails can come as a big surprise. It can be a painful process for your nails. They can become very brittle, begin to crack and flake, and even fall out. This can happen to both your fingernails and toenails, making everyday tasks difficult and making shoes very painful to wear. Taking time to care for your scalp, skin, and nail beds during and after your treatment can help with encouraging healthy hair regrowth and healthier nails. [Makeup Tutorial] One of the first things we wanted to mention is that there are so many amazing outlets available to you to help your survivorship journey. While planning this blog, we stumbled across many important resources but wanted to share one in particular. We found an amazing channel on YouTube called "Breast Cancer Care". Not only do they have videos on how to give self-breast exams, but they also have tons of different videos on how to care for and create eyebrows, eyelashes, skin care, lip care, and more for those going through chemo and beyond. Visit their channel by following the link below. This channel and their website is an incredible resource and a huge comfort for those going through treatment and recovery! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwjuAw12CWanY-8BOp24Vfw [Regrowth] Being kind to your hair, even if it's not so kind to you during treatment, is key. Using mild shampoos and conditioners can help care for your skin and hair while it's going through so much during treatment. There are also many other head covering options available to you. You can add a wig into your wardrobe if you'd like. A lot of insurance companies, according to Everyday Health, will cover the cost of a wig for medical purposes with a prescription for a cranial prosthesis. Soft and gentle head scarfs are also an option to keep your head warm and protected from the sun and other natural elements. Keeping your head covered can help regulate your body temperature, which is key in keeping you healthy. Please do not forget sunscreen if you're going to be outside. We also encourage you to invest in a deep healing lotion for your skin. After your treatment has ended, there are wonderful all-natural growth options to help stimulate your hair, eyelashes, and nail growth. After treatment, as your hair begins to regrow, it will be very fragile. Be kind to it in every way possible. Keep it short until it becomes stronger, and avoid dying or getting it permed or chemically straightened during this regrowth process. [Nails] The focus on hair loss often overshadows the effect that chemo and treatment can have on your nails. Using a cuticle cream and moisturizing hand lotion can strengthen your nail beds. Keeping your nails short and trimmed neatly can avoid painful tears, cracks, and infection. Avoid using acrylic and other similar nail techniques, as they can lead to infection. If you want to use a polish, use all-natural and water-based polish brands. Avoid going to the nail salon if you can, but if you have to go, bring your own sterilized equipment, polish, and tools. Make sure all spaces that your nails are worked on are thoroughly cleaned and disinfected before you get your nails done. Avoid chewing on your nails and cuticles, as opening up your skin or creating an irritation can also lead to infection. [Conclusion] Please remember that you can visit us through your treatments and survivorship journey. We provide scar revision, body contouring, facial rejuvenation, and laser hair removal, among our many resources. How you define and feel beautiful in your skin is whats important. No one has the power to take that from you or define how you should be doing this for yourself. Be bold, be strong, and continue to fight beautifully. If you have any questions about this any of our services, don't hesitate to reach out. During these continued difficult times, we encourage you to take extreme caution protecting yourself and your loved ones from the pandemic. Please stay safe and be well.  Breast cancer and its treatments leave behind scars of many kinds. Healing from your physical and emotional scars are a part of your healing process. Both need to be looked after with equal amounts of care.
Hello dear friends. We hope where ever you are while reading this, you know you are not alone. Where ever you are on your journey, you are strong enough to fight. In this blog, we will be talking about scars. Not necessarily the scars that are left behind from radiation, chemo, and surgery. We will be talking about the emotional scars that come along with fighting this battle. These scars need to be cared for and healed just as much as your physical scars do. This process can take time, but we promise it's worth it. Not dealing with these scars can make the journey into returning to the life you want difficult or even impossible. A scar is something a warrior should be proud of. You went through the fight, and you won. You are now more aware, realistic, stronger, and wiser. Your cancer treatments will affect your body physically, but it goes way beyond that. It can affect how you feel, think, and like to do things in your life. Treatment can even change the way your brain works. Yes, chemo brain is a real thing! You could be facing mental changes in how you learn, how well you concentrate, and how well you remember. There is nothing wrong with you, these are common effects for many people going through treatment. Also, how your treatments will affect you mentally and physically is unique to each person. It is important to be informed and educated about what is happening to your body before, during, and after your treatment. Discussing and researching how you can help yourself stay as healthy mentally and physically as possible is also key to this process. Long term and short term effects of treatment can affect your mental health. Depression, anxiety, and fear can develop during treatment. After treatment a lot of this fear is based on the worry and possibility that your cancer could return. Anxiety can bloom out of the initial shock of taking in all of the information you're given at the beginning of your journey. This can make it very difficult to cope or comprehend what is going on. While going through and working on your emotional healing, keeping an open line of communication is very important. Make sure to talk about how you're feeling. Express it, work through your emotions, and try to continue past them. Working through these emotions can help you move towards a more positive attitude, and to help you cope with life in general. Make sure to be open with your care team, a medical professional, or a trusted loved one. Holding in these emotions and feelings can be very hurtful. Feeling angry can get in the way of taking care of yourself. Sometimes, it can energize you. Use these emotions for a positive outcome, don't stew inside of them. Prioritize your mental health. You are allowed to feel how you do. They are valid emotions and you are worthy to feel this way. Allow yourself to grieve, but don't let it last forever. Your body could be facing many different kinds of changes, too. Some may only last for a little while, while others could stay forever. Even if you don't show these changes, you could still see them. Anger and grief are natural reactions to this situation. It can affect your sex drive. It might make you feel that your appearance has changed how your loved ones look at you, respond to you, and will act around you. These natural reactions can also cause depression, anxiety, and fear. Things That Can Help:
After treatment, it might be strange that you aren't always in panic mode. You're so used to that feeling, that it can be mentally jarring to start going back to some sense of normalcy. But that normalcy can place a lot of burden on you as well. Getting back to your sense of normal can take time. Even with the victory and empowerment that you've successfully beaten cancer. It might take time to feel like you can go back to your life again. Your normal may not be the same again, and it's difficult to adjust to that. Remember, your breasts are not who you are nor do they represent who you are. Healing doesn't just happen overnight and then you're better. It has many stages and steps along the way. Take the time to do what you need. We are here for you along every step of the way and are always here to talk when you need us. Never hesitate to reach out. Continue to fight, be proud of the journey you're on, and be well. |
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