Accordingly the WebMD ‘Provider Directory’ is provided by WebMD for use by the general public as a quick reference of information about Providers. Inclusion in the Provider Directory does not imply recommendation or endorsement nor does omission in the Provider Directory imply WebMD disapproval. Shawn Hotard, 45, is aRadiologist Tech at East Jefferson General Hospital who was diagnosed withbreast cancer in April. Whenever undergoing chemotherapy and now experiencing significant hair loss, she has nearly completed the first phase of her treatment process. Whenever in line with the American Cancer Society, nearly any year more than 200000 American women are diagnosed with breast cancer. Also, for those experiencing cancer treatment first hand it almost always comes as a shock, while hair loss is a popular aftereffects of chemotherapy treatments. Hotard’s career as an x ray technician forEast Jefferson General Hospital has helped to equip her with the knowledge of the challenges that lay ahead of her.
As a matter of fact, Hotard expressed that her experience in the profession provides an unique perspective and important medical insight.
Hair loss occurs as long as chemotherapy targets all rapidly dividing cells healthy cells as well as cancer cells.
By the fifth treatment of Taxol, an effective chemotherapy drug for most solid tumor cancers, Hotard says that her hair started to fall out and thin. She expresses how difficult it can be to cope with the shock of hair loss during treatment. Debbie Schmitz, is thecancer care navigator at East Jefferson General Hospital. Having years of experience in assistance patients through the cancer treatment process, Schmitz explains that although hair loss isn’t a consequences of all cancer treatments it can occur within only a few weeks of starting treatment. I couldn’t stop running my hands through my hair and pulling chunks out, continues Hotard.
Hotard began to experience hair loss approximately four weeks into treatment. It got so thin that I had to shave it. While shaving his own head to express support for his wife’s strength, when the time came, s husband, Breck, was there razor in hand. Therefore, surrounded by the support of her family, Hotard embraced her new look. Hair loss was not the only frightening consequences Hotard has experienced. She has begun to feel a tingling or numbness in her feet, an aftereffect known as chemo induced neuropathy. Hotard states that it can also be permanent, her oncologist assures her that the sensations must cease after treatment.
Hotard also explains that she has started to see herself slowing down because of the treatment, as chemotherapy is extremely taxing on the body.
I hate to tell my kids we can’t do things since I am tired, Hotard said.
I push myself a little harder whenit gets to my kids. On p of that, in our next article, we catch up with Shawn Hotard, who has now completed Taxol treatment. Consequently, her next steps in her battle with breast cancer include AC Chemotherapy, that is a combination chemotherapy treatment used to treat breast cancer specifically. Actually, these are used in Europe for over a decade. For some reason, US oncologists choose to have their patients go bald.
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