In this article you will learn ways on to heal from the effects of breast cancer treatments. Going through the treatments of surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation can be hard on a woman's body. As a women go through surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation treatments, there are many side effects from the treatments that can cause temporary discomfort to the body. Because I have gone through the treatments myself, I have found products that helps to minimize the discomfort and help heal the effects of treatments.
First, there are two types of surgery - lumpectomy and mastectomy. After surgery, it is important to find a specialty bra to help keep the breast secured in order to heal properly. A mastectomy bra will be necessary to purchase after a women have gone through a mastectomy surgery. These specialty bras include a pocket to hold the prosthesis form.
During chemotherapy, a woman will endure several side effects from the medication. The most common side effects are losing your hair, nausea, loss of appetite, neuropathy, fatigue and anemia, change in taste and smell, dry mouth, memory loss, and menopause.
With the hair loss, you can either wear hats or wear a wig. Without hair, hats will fit loosely. You can wrap your head with a bandanna or scarf to fill the gap so the hat can fit a bit tighter. Wearing synthetic wigs can make your scalp a bit itchy and make it sweaty. You can buy a wig cap to help with these problems. Wigs can be expensive. They range from $130 and up. Most insurance will cover the purchase of the wig so do check with your insurance company.
The effects of chemotherapy not only can affect your sense of smell and taste, but it can leave your mouth very dry. To help reduce this effect, there are products to help increase the flow of saliva. This dry mouth care pack by Biotene contains gum, mouth wash, toothpaste, and moisturizing gel. Otherwise, drink a lot of water and try to chew gum to keep the flow of saliva.
The common side effects of radiation are fatigue, skin problems, and loss of appetite. The most complaint from patients are the irritation and discoloring of their skin. After a radiation treatment, the skin will be very sensitive. Make sure you wear loose clothing when going to receive treatment. Try to get a driver to drive you home so you don't have to worry about driving yourself. The radiation can and will burn the skin so it is important to keep the area moist. To help keep the skin moist, a patient can use a therapy lotion called Alura Skin Therapy. This lotion will help keep the area moist after each radiation treatment. The patient also needs to be aware of not using regular deodorant. Most deodorants that are bought in stores have a metallic ingredient in the deodorant. The metallic ingredient can interfere with the radiation treatment. You can purchase a non-metallic deodorant by Alra. This special made deodorant will eliminate perspiration odor and wetness. This gentle, non-irritating deodorant contains oil of cypress, a clean-smelling natural fragrance, and lichen extract which is a natural bactericide and fungicide. These healing products will help ease the side effects of chemotherapy and radiation treatments.
If you know someone who is going through chemotherapy and/or radiation treatments, a great gift to give a loved one would be a chemotherapy kit and/or a radiation kit. The chemotherapy kit contains a breast cancer cap, dry-mouth pack, breast cancer bandanna, water bottle, 2008 planner, travel size hand sanitizer, and a tote bag to carry all of your needed items. The radiation kit contains the non-metallic deodorant, skin therapy lotion, soft cushion to protect your sensitive area, dry-mouth pack, 2008 planner, and a travel size hand sanitizer. These kits contains all the products that will help you with the healing process as you go through your each treatment.
By Gina Andrew
Gina Andrew is a young survivor of breast cancer. She understands what a woman will need after surgery. Gina has started an on-line breast cancer store and carries varieties of mastectomy bras.
Visit Gina's on-line store to find beautiful styles of mastectomy bras, post-surgery wear, breast cancer jewelry and accessories. http://www.beautyenhanced.net
She also started a breast cancer resource center in her home town. Visit her non-profit organization at http://sacbcrc.org to learn more about her cause and how you can donate to help women who are facing breast cancer.
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