Hair regrowth & bone pain after finishing chemo

Dallascheer6
Dallascheer6 Member Posts: 3
in Lymphoma (Hodgkin and Non-Hodgkin) #1

Hi!!!

This is my first time posting, so I don't really know where to begin. I am 20 years old and I just finished EPOCH chemotherapy four weeks ago. My last Neulasta shot was also four weeks ago, and normally the bone pains go away witihin ten days. My pain went away for two weeks but came back these last few days much worse than I have ever had them! It feels like someone is grinding my bones (lower back, hips, spine, and upper thighs) and it comes in random pangs. I told my oncologist but he just ignored it (like usual). So I'm wondering if this had happened to any one else who finished chemo? Did your bone aches come back?? 

 

Also I was expecting my hair to start growing back by now. Everything I have read says that you should expect little sprouts to begin by 4 weeks and I have nothing. In fact, all of my arm hair fell out yesterday.. I have no eyebrows, eyelashes, not even one tiny hair on my body. So you can imagine as a girl in college I'm ready to get my hair back haha. Did anyone else's hair come back really really slowly? Or not at all? Is there anything I can do to make my hair grow back more quickly? 

 

Also nueropathy!!! I told my dr that I have no feeling in my left shin 24/7, that I can't write some times due to no feeling in my hands and he pushed it off and said it was "whatever". Honestly I should probably get a new doctor if my cancer comes back.. 

 

Anyways, any advice about living after cancer would be great. I don't really know what to do, and obviously my dr is of no help. 

Comments

  • Max Former Hodgkins Stage 3
    Max Former Hodgkins Stage 3 Member Posts: 3,819 Member
    #2
    Dallas,Hair virtually always

    Dallas,

    Hair virtually always returns following chemo cessation, especially in a patient as young as  you are. There is no "one" timetable or pattern for this. But do not stress out: it will come back. I also lost my eyelashes and eyebrows, so I know how odd it felt to look that way.

    I also had severe neuropathy. This can take months to clear (most commonly), but can take a year or longer. Some cases never clear (like mine), but that is commoner on older patients like myself.

     Again, statistically , your youth suggests a fuller recovery from the side-effect than an older woman would reasonably anticipate. There is no medication for chemo-induced neuropathy , but some folks claim that various nutrients help. There are no clinical trials to substantiate this, but a good diet with what someone has tried personally with success can't  hurt.

    Your doctor may not be as insensitive as you think, since these problems are mostly not treatable, but it would be thoughtful of him to at least explain that.  He is in a tough field, were the focus is keeping people alive.  The little, emotional touches can get lost in the cracks when a doctor is more focused on  life and/or death.

     If you are in full remission, take some time to be thankful about that, and know that these other matters mostly, usually, get better over time. 

     

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