While most people know someone who has had breast cancer, when confronted with their own diagnosis, many find they have no idea what to expect when dealing with chemotherapy for breast cancer.

Here’s a rough overview of what a breast cancer patient can expect to deal with during and after chemotherapy.

Going through Chemotherapy

Receiving chemotherapy for breast cancerwill generally occur at a doctor’s office or in the outpatient unit of a hospital or clinic.

Chemotherapy for breast cancer is a treatment given in cycles, spaced apart for the patient’s body to process and recover. Chemotherapy for breast cancer typically lasts somewhere between three and four months, and chemotherapy sessions can occur from once a week to once every three weeks.

A number of breast cancer drugs are available to be used in treatment, and a patient will receive certain regimens based on their doctor’s tailor-made decisions. Usually, this involves a combination of breast cancer drugs specific to the patient’s circumstances.

Breast cancer drugs are most often given through an IV. During a chemotherapy session, a patient will probably go through a number of steps. There will be a short physical exam for temperature, pulse, and blood pressure, and then there will be a few blood tests.

While breast cancer drugs do generally come with several side effects, patients are also given preventative medications to counteract common side effects like nausea, anxiety, or inflammation.

The actual process of receiving chemotherapy for breast cancer may take several hours. Afterwards, the patient’s catheter will be removed, vital signs checked, and side effects reviewed. Though there are side effects of chemotherapy, patients are sent home with medication to help alleviate these side effects.

After chemotherapy for breast cancer, some patients feel that they can return immediately to their regularly scheduled life, but others may feel they need time to rest and recover.

Chemotherapy Side Effects

Common chemotherapy side effects include:

• Loss of appetite
• Nausea and vomiting
• Weakness and fatigue
• Mouth sores
• Hair loss
• Weight gain
• Bleeding
• Diarrhea
• Early menopause
• Higher risk of infection

Though many of these common side effects are controllable given medication from your doctor to prevent them, or an adjusted chemotherapy dosage to minimize the effects, others are not easily counteracted.

Chemotherapy Hair Loss

Chemotherapy hair loss happens because, in targeting rapidly dividing cancer cells, chemotherapy also targets other rapidly dividing cells – especially hair follicles, which are among the fastest growing cells in the human body. Effective chemotherapy for breast cancer will generally also destroy your hair cells along with the cancer cells.

Many patients end up losing some or all of their hair weeks into chemotherapy treatment. Some lose clumps of hair in their hair brush, or it may gradually shed.

Though chemotherapy hair loss itself is not a dangerous side effect, it can be traumatic and emotional. For many, it is a visual representation of their painful struggle with cancer.

Taxotere Hair Loss Lawsuits

Taxotere, an IV-administered chemotherapy drug, has been linked with an unusually high risk of permanent chemotherapy hair loss. Some patients have filed Taxotere lawsuits, alleging that the drug’s manufacturer purposefully covered up the extent of Taxotere side effects and failed to warn patients of the increased chemotherapy hair loss risk.

Patients who file Taxotere lawsuits allege that Sanofi, the drug’s manufacturer, knew of the potential permanent chemotherapy hair loss risk of the breast cancer drug, but failed to adequately warn patients and the medical community of this side effect.

If you or someone you know has suffered permanent hair loss or are experiencing difficulty with hair regrowth after chemotherapy for breast cancer, filing a Taxotere hair loss lawsuit may provide you with financial compensation for your pain and suffering.