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.