Save the Fingernails!
As the date for my first chemotherapy infusion approaches, I've been doing as much research as possible on chemo side effects and what to do about them. One side effect that I particularly wanted to annoy is what they cleverly call "nail changes."
It turns out that a number of people who have Taxotere chemotherapy have their finger and toenails turn brown or black and sometimes...fall off! Oh my!
You know, I'm resigned to losing my hair, but I do NOT want to lose my fingernails. This is coming from a woman who has never had a manicure in her life; it's not about appearance for me. It's about not wanting to lose my tools! As an artist and a crafter, I use my fingernails all the time. I wouldn't know what to do without them.
After engaging in a little web research, I found out about a study published last summer in the Journal of Clinical Oncology that used a frozen glove treatment to reduce nail problems. It was a small study done in France, using Elasto-Gel hypothermia mitts. Patients participating in the study wore a frozen glove on one hand and nothing on the other while receiving Taxotere infusions. No one lost fingernails on the hand that had the frozen glove treatment, while 22% of the hands that did not have the treatment had nail loss.
Even though it was a small study, I found it compelling. I contacted my oncologist to ask if she was okay with me doing this. She said its fine with her and she'll be curious to see the results. The next thing was to find the mitts (and the hypothermia slippers, because I don't want to lose my toenails either). I found the website for Southwest Technologies (guys, you need a more professional site!), the company that supplied the Elasto-Gel mitts for the study, but because they don't sell retail, that wasn't too helpful.
Finally I located another company online that had the mitts and slippers in stock. I talked to them on the phone and arranged for them to send a set to me via Priority Mail. I could only afford one set, so after having them on for 45 minutes (the maximum time they stay cold enough) I'll have to switch to using bags of ice. We'll see how well it works!
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I have had trouble with nails pulling away from the bed off and on for YEARS - long before I was diagnosed with cancer - both liposarcom and unrelated breast cancer. I have been soaking in vinegar and putting thymol under the nails. This helped for a while but now it is starting again. I have had NO chemo - just radiation. Any thoughts? Thanks.
Hello, Queen Mother.
I'm mostly familiar with the nail problems that are caused by Taxotere/Taxol chemotherapy...the ice method wouldn't do anything for you in that case because your chronic nail problems are not caused by toxic infusions. I do know that a number of people use Tea Tree Oil twice a day (like after a shower and before bed) on their nails to help keep them healthy, but because Tea Tree Oil is an anti-fungal, I'm imagining it would be doing the same thing as the Thymol and thus be redundant for you. However, if it looks like a fungal infection is at the root of this -- yellowing would be a clue -- than you may need a stronger anti-fungal treatment, one that a doctor could prescribe.
Nutrition changes (some people believe that yeast imbalances may cause this) or supplements (calcium or supplements specifically for nail health) might help; I don't have experience with them.
I'd first get a doctor to look at it to see if it appears to be a fungal infection, and if she/ he can't help, explore the other options. Good luck!
Alix
I'm having my lumpectomy on Thursday (invasive DCIS) and will be starting the chemo at Alta Bates the week after. Where were you able to find the frozen gloves?
I had been unaware of the "nail changes" (reminds me of how they named food in the cafeteria, e.g. "carrot coins") until I had lunch with a friend who has finished chemo and is halfway through radiation. She lost her fingernails, but not her toenails. I had taken the hair loss for granted, but really don't want to lose the nails (I think part of that is that I can see my nails, not so much my hair without a mirror, and I think it would be kind of depressing to have brown/black/nonexistent nails...)
Enough rambling. I'd love to get my hands on some frozen gloves...
I bought the gloves/slippers from two vendors online, one who stopped carrying them right after my purchase. The other vendor, M & W Sales, still sells them. Warning: These are very expensive!
Before you try to purchase them, call the infusion center at Alta Bates and ask them if they have frozen mitts and/or slippers for patient use. After I bought them and had to contact the manufacturer with a question, I found out I was the first consumer to buy them -- normally the centers buy them (one set was over $200). So, the Alta Bates infusion center may have them. While I did chemo at UCSF, I did radiation at Alta Bates. My radiation oncologist was most interested to see how healthy my nails were given my type of chemo. She forwarded the frozen glove studies to the medical oncology group and talked to them about this, so it's possible they might be helping patients by providing the mitts now.
Best of success to you!
Alix,
As a friend of Albany Mom's, I just wanted to thank you for your site. All of us who love A.M. have been inspired by her courage and optimism the last few weeks, and she's gotten a lot of that strength and positive outlook from reading your blog. I think it took away a lot of the scariness for her (and for us), knowing what is in store and how the process works (for example, we were all very puzzled about the "wires" being inserted prior to her surgery, and your entry about that cleared things up for us). Keep up the good work. I'm sure you're helping lots of people.
Thank you so much for sharing that! I don't get a lot of feedback, so it is very nice for me to hear when the blog is helpful to others. I found real-life stories from others useful in the beginning of my journey, which is why I choose to share my own experiences with others.
A.M. is lucky to have friends like you, S.P.! I'm sure she greatly appreciates your support. It's not easy to help someone through something like this; be sure to take good care of yourself. You deserve care, too.
I'm losing my nails. Does anyone know if they grow back?
Hi Sharon,
While I did not lose my nails (thanks to the ice treatment) and can't speak from personal experience, those women I know who did lose theirs had their nails grow back. I'm not sure if they grow back before chemo ends; you might want to ask a nurse at the infusion center. Often they know about these things because they talk to so many patients.
Best of luck to you!
Alix
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