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Chemotherapy, Ferility and Menopause

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Posted by Betsy Mullen on 8/22/2000 from 152.163.194.196:
In reply to: Re: scared posted by Gwendoline Springer on 8/21/2000 from 216.170.50.66:
Hello, Gwen.

I hope that Pam's new message to you will be helpful to you and help ease some of your uneasy feelings. In many, many cases, premenopausal women may temporarily experience a premature menopause. In my case it was permanent, but a year ago, a gynecological oncologist was hopeful that I might actually begin ovulating again.

You may want to consult with a fertility expert (hopefully your oncologist and/or OB/GYN can give you a referral) to discuss the possibility of harvesting, preserving and banking your eggs (cryopreservation). It is not uncommon for male cancer patients to harvest their sperm before chemotherapy. It is less common and more complex for women to harvest their eggs, but it certainly can be done. Some HMO's (e.g., Kaiser Permanente) cover up to 50% of the costs in seeing a fertility expert and treatment in a fertility clinic, others do not provide coverage.

It is hard to predict with certainty whether or not you will lose all of you hair or if it will just thin out. While my chemotherapy protocol was different than yours (and even if it had been the same) everybody and every body is different. I was told that I would definitely lose all of my hair but I did not; it did thin out a lot. The good news is, is that your hair WILL grow back.

Chemotherapy tends to attack fast growing cells, which include bad cancer cells and good cells such as those in our hair follicles and gastrointestinal tract. So, look at it this way. If your hair starts thinning out or if you do lose it, just think what it is doing in killing any stray cancer cells that dare try to survive in your body -- they'll be history!!

I looked at my chemotherapy (a six-month regimen; I was 33 years old) as an insurance policy for a future free of breast cancer and full of promise, hope and good health.

Please do not hesitate to contact our office for one-on-one support and information. Our main office telephone number is (626) 332-2255. Please also feel free to complete and e-mail us the Personal Profile form that Shelly referenced in her first message to you. The information will remain confidential and will assist us in helping you to the best of our abilities.

We are holding you close in our thoughts and hope to hear from you.

Best regards,
Betsy

Betsy Mullen
President/CEO
WIN Against Breast Cancer
www.winabc.org

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