There have been many specialists helping me through my journey. It's pretty easy to logically name those that you might expect to be involved but as you continue through treatment, there's always something that gets thrown out of whack requiring some specialist care. In general, the list looks something like this in roughly this order:
- GP - Family Specialist
- surgeon
- medical oncologist
- radiation oncologist
- oncology pharmacist
- general pharmacist
- physiotherapist
- massage therapist
Chemotherapy treatment reeks havoc with your body and God knows all that's happening in your body with those chemical cocktails that you receive. And just how long does it remain in your system? Some of the drugs can affect your nails and nail growth. I was fortunate not to have my nails turn black as can be a side effect of one my particular drugs. However, now my nails are brittle and slow to grow. The odd pattern of their growth results in infections in my toes and my body heals slowly from infection so I'm now on my second round of antibiotics and have had half my toe nails cut out. There are no pedicures in my near future!
I am very fortunate to live in a country and a community where all these specialists are available. All have them have been excellent in providing me with personalized care and compassion. They also provide me with important reminders to slow down and let my body recover as it is important to allow the treatment that are providing to be most effective. So when I told the podiatrist that I was going to ask him a stupid question, he already had the answer ready before the question was posed and I will heed his response - NO. Which translated means - 'no, I should not try to get back into running or even think about kicking a soccer ball'. Seems logical but sometimes you need to knock these things into me before they really sink in but I can't blame that on the chemo,