Navigating Chemo: 8 Essential Tips for Thriving With Breast Cancer
Key takeaways:
Anna Crollman was 27 and newly married when she got her breast cancer diagnosis.
She founded a blog to help young women with cancer get the advice she wishes she had had.
She gives tips on what to do and not do to ease the effects of chemotherapy.
Anna Crollman was 27 years old and newly married when she was diagnosed with triple-positive breast cancer, which affects about 10% of people diagnosed with breast cancer.
The news came just as Anna and her husband, Mac, were starting to plan a family.
Ten years later, Anna considers herself a breast cancer thriver, rather than a survivor. She’s learned quite a bit about how to live well at all points along the cancer continuum. Now 37 and living in Cary, North Carolina, she is the founder and creative director of the blog My Cancer Chic.
Anna underwent a mastectomy and, like most cancer patients, had chemotherapy, which can be a physically draining and time-consuming part of cancer treatment.
Practical tips for navigating chemotherapy
Here, Anna lists 8 things you can do in advance to make chemotherapy rounds and recovery a bit easier.
1. Go wig shopping before you need to
Anna suggests shopping for a wig before hair loss begins to make the transition less traumatic. Taking a friend or family member can make it fun, she says. She had her husband try some on.
For Anna, the choice was between a wig that mimicked her own style or something that was completely different. But some women will choose to embrace the bald look and won’t need a wig, she says. And not all chemotherapy treatment results in hair loss. But if you pick a wig up early, you have an option, she points out.
2. See your dentist before chemotherapy
Because of the increased risk of infections during chemotherapy, Anna’s care team advised that she see a dentist 1 month before starting treatment. Side effects are common when a person’s mouth is not healthy before beginning chemotherapy. Including your dentist in your cancer treatment plan also means “you’ll have another care team member available to support you,” Anna says.
3. Prepare for dry and sensitive skin
Anna recommends investing in soothing and hydrating lotions, cleansers, sunscreens, and soaps. During chemotherapy, she would apply lotion on her feet and wear socks at night to prevent skin cracking. Having the products on hand before you need them helps you feel prepared, she says. She also found that massages helped her bond with caregivers who wanted to show support.
4. Avoid your favorite foods around the time of your chemo treatments
Anna warns against eating favorite foods around the time of chemotherapy sessions, as the resulting metallic taste and nausea could lead to a long-term aversion.
“I wish I had known not to eat some of my favorite foods around the time frame of [my] chemotherapy,” she says.
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It took nearly 6 years for Anna to be able to enjoy her favorite Chinese tofu dish again, after she developed an aversion during chemotherapy.
5. Consider shaving your head early
If your chemotherapy is likely to cause hair loss, get in front of it, Anna says. As she points out, the scalp can be tender as hair follicles are dying, which can cause pain.
“If you’re shaving your head ahead of time or at least cutting your hair very short, there’s not as much weight pulling on those hair follicles,” Anna says.
Emotionally, “it was a little bit easier to lose small, pixie-length hair pieces as opposed to the trauma of giant locks of hair falling out in the shower,” she adds.
6. Select plenty of reading material
Long hours in the chemo chair can be tedious, so download fiction books or bring a journal. Adult coloring books can also be a good distraction. Anna found that having these activities helped her pass the time during her long treatment sessions.
“You’re going to be in the chemo chair a long time,” she says. “In my case, I would have 8- to 10-hour days at the chemo infusion center. There’s a lot of waiting involved.”
7. Stock up on anti-nausea medications
Explore both prescription and natural anti-nausea remedies, Anna says.
“I didn’t realize there were so many versions,” she says. “What really helped me was a peppermint rollerball — almost like an aromatherapy ball. You can rub it on your wrists, your neck, or on your forehead.”
Anna also used anti-nausea wrist bands, especially when her nausea increased driving to and from work. And she tried anti-nausea teas and chewable ginger.
8. Be mindful of your mental health
Anna acknowledges the significant mental health effect of chemotherapy, alongside the physical toll.
“I don’t have a magic tip for that,” she says, referring to the impact on mental health. But she advises having a plan for a mindfulness routine or building in time for therapy during treatment.
“Chemotherapy may bring out some of that even if you’ve never had any mental health challenges before,” she says.
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