Why Didn't Anyone Tell Me

I hate chemotherapy. Most of my counseling appointments last year focused on the suffering I endured during chemo. This might surprise a lot of people, but I would rather have another body part removed than do chemotherapy again. It stinks, big time. I'm glad it works so well.

One thing that a lot of people don't know is the lasting effects of chemo. It changes your skin, it ages you a lot, and the worst of all, it damages many patient's hearts. I met a Hodgkins-lymphoma patient yesterday that now has permanent heart damage because of adriamycin. Wow, that's serious.

I've recently found out about another side effect...tooth decay. In the last couple months I have received two root canals. I just found out that I will be needing 2 more. That is 4 root canals in less than six months! This crazy! My mouth is literally falling apart all at once. What is going on?!

Of the four dentist's I've seen in the last few months, ALL of them have said this, "So you did chemotherapy? When did you finish? O-h-h...that's the problem." All of them have told me that chemo highly increases tooth decay because chemo causes dry mouth. This encourages bacteria to go deep into the crevasses of the gumline.

Why is this fact not explained to chemo receipients? I knew to have good dental care before I started chemo, but no one told me that I had to be SUPER vigilant about cavities that might start growing in the years after. If I had known this was going to happen, I would have been in the dentist, like every month or two.

*Sigh* I'm seriously thinking about trying to start some sort of dental awareness program for chemo patients. I just need a doctor to back me up, and the financial means to get the word out. Maybe I'll give Crest a call. :) I don't want this to happen to other cancer survivors. They have enough to deal with, without their teeth falling out.

St. Louis Komen Race 2008

Here are some photos from the 2008 St. Louis Race for the Cure.

It was perfect day for the race weather wise. I had the honor of spending the morning with my best-est friend Kathy and her BC surviving mom, Pat. Kathy's brother and her nephew, Ryan also joined us for the race. Thanks for the support, guys!

The race is so fun, and it is amazing to see 65,000+ people together for one reason; to squash breast cancer!

Kathy, me and Pat

Every survivor and their caregiver gets to enjoy a yummy breakfast before the race.

As we were walking, I heard someone call my name. I turned around to find the most precious person ever! Katherine Jones is the smiling face at the Barnard Health and Cancer Information Center at the Siteman Cancer Center. She was a constant source of comfort and information for me and my family as I was going through treatment. Somehow she always remembers my name, even though I only see her, now, only once a year. It was so great to see her at the race since she spends most of her days ministering to cancer patients.

We did it! Thanks for the memories Cierpot family!

Thank You, Christina

Here is the interview Christina Applegate gave to GMA about her recent mastctomy.

http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=5608888

Thank you, Christina Applegate for your interview. Thank you for being honest about your treatment. Thank you for explaining why you chose to have a double mastectomy, even though you only had cancer in one breast. Thank you for just being honest about how younger women are not getting the screenings they need, just because they are young. Thank you for being honest about the difficult emotional side of losing your breasts.

Thank you for putting yourself out there. There are way too many people out there that think, "Oh, I'm glad you only got breast cancer. At least they can cure that. You'll be okay. Shew!"

Shew, my ass. I'm glad to see Christina honest, because I have seen too many celebrity breast cancer survivors hiding their treatment, like it never happened. This is a HUGE disservice to other survivors. If you witness the treatment and recovery of a cancer survivor, you would know that it is not "okay," and that this disease needs to STOP!!! Hiding it only contributes to the ignorance.

FYI, did you know that the survival rate of a woman younger than 40 years old is 83%? Let me put it this way, 17 woman DIE out of every 100 diagnosed. SEVENTEEN! This needs to STOP NOW!!

One comment Christina made about laughing after the surgery, made me smile! I know what she is talking about! Laughing uses a lot of chest muscles, which after a mastectomy, is cut up. I remember using this weird, "Huh, huh, huh" laugh after my surgery. I remember telling Greg, "Stop making me laugh!" which would them make me laugh even more. Thank you for that bittersweet memory!

Thank you, Christina! I hope you will like your new boobies! (I like mine! :)