Marta on January 5, 2017 at 11:21 pm said:

I definitely would have chosen Taxol instead of Taxotere. Being almost bald since 7 years has totally changed my life. I have learned to live with my baldness but it’s an ongoing struggle every day.

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Erica on January 6, 2017 at 5:36 pm said:

Thanks for this very thoughtful account of how it feels to lose your hair forever, simply because you never had an informed choice—even when you did your best to research your alternatives. And how awful that your permanent hair loss led your doctors to advise against reconstruction. Breasts and hair…the two physical characteristics that define a woman most! Yes, that’s a big deal.

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Char on January 11, 2017 at 7:53 pm said:

Thank you for sharing your story……it is you and every woman on this site that has given me the strength and perseverance I so desperately needed when I believed I was to blame for my hair not coming back ( doc asking me repeatedly what was I doing to create this problem). I have dreams of a discovery to help each of us but the work we have all done to educate and put this story out there gives me pride to know that less and less women will have to deal with this outcome. I have a lot of life left to live and I will not let this define me but I surely miss some of the very things that I used to dislike as a woman ( I would be most grateful to have multiple bad hair days and HAVE to pluck my brows and shave my legs). Wishing every precious woman on this site a blessed New Year. Charlotte……Virginia

 

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MM on January 13, 2017 at 3:43 pm said:

I was brought to tears reading your story as it conjured up so much of how I feel dealing with permanent hair loss as a result of my breast cancer treatment with Taxotere.

All of us were courageous in our battle against this dreaded disease. The months of biopsies, surgeries, CHEMO, radiation..the waiting..the unkowns. I believed that as a “survivor” I would physically look like my prior self-I was told my hair would grow back within 4 months after cessation of treatment. I was even given a handout with that section highlighted. At almost 2 years post chemo I have to deal with the reality that I am never going to be the same and the “hair” that I have now is as good as it’s ever going to be. Damn, does that sting!

We should have been told the facts, given options and the information we needed to make an informed decision. Given the facts, there is no question I would have chosen weekly Taxol over tri-weekly Taxotere. Who wouldn’t?

I am so sorry that you are dealing with this and thank you again for your eloquent post and for helping to inform and get the word out on the devasting side effect of permanent hair loss caused by Taxotere.

 

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Melanie hall on June 13, 2017 at 3:02 am said:

July 2009 diagnozed breast cancer…aug 2009 lumpectomy given…not given any option…sept 2009 chemo started fec t. Jan 10 chemo finished…radiotherapy and herceptin given… breast reduction on left as they dont match…job botched!!!! feb 2011 herceptin finished…still wearing wigs…have no eyebrows… have to pay for eyebrow tattoo… ask doctor why….it could be herceptin!!!! nov 2011 hair very thin like old man through top…tell doc…dont worry will grow when stop taking tamoixifen. Wigs itching now find i am allergic to the lace. 2012 find info regarding taxotere..tell doc…no help..your alive arn’t you!! by now diagnosed with borderline personality disorder due to image…dont like having to explain all the time about hair! 2013…have painfull sciatica and teeth are breaking….find out taxotere cause bone weakness!! Start loosing teeth! 2014 have micro discetomy on spine does not work..left with chronic pain..pins and needles in fingers….chronic fatigue…2014 srart having surgury to sort out painful lumpectomy scar and bodged up left breast reduction!!!…2015 have been disabled from job due to pain….5 surgurys lata…breasts now resemble london underground…have n feeling in left nipple or under breast and right is still hard and painfull…..now present day…still NO SUPPORT….NO ANSWERS….NO HELP…. i am sick of being told “”well your alive” NO I AM NOT ALIVE!!! Its a half life… i am not me… i dont reckonize the woman in the mirror..i want me back…my life has been ruined..and now the final nail…i find out that IF i had, had a masectomy….i woul not have had to have chemotherapy….herceptin….I WAS NOT GIVEN THIS F@#*ing OPTION..so i have had my life ruined by a comsultant who thought he knew best ..who in reality he did not!!! I try and make a joke out of how i look so i dont get hurt by people who dont understand…i am fed up with being asked hows your treatment going…im fed up with who i see in the mirror!!! BUT MOST OF ALL…I AM FED UP WITH BEING TOLD….”WELL AT LEAST YOUR ALIVE!”…….WELL GUESS WHAT..I WOULD RATHER HAVE HAIR AND EYEBROWS!!!!!!

 

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Jo-ann on October 25, 2019 at 11:43 pm said:

Hi, I too am a victim of the drugs that on one hand saved my life but on another destroyed my life. I handled the cancer well, telling myself it was a blip, I even hid it from friends and family only my partner , brother and a few very close friends were told. No one warned me of the side effect but even if they had would I have done things differently? The oncology team say it was the only drug avail for my cancer.
It was only after treatment when my hair did not return did the oncologist, who by the way was great, said she was seeing increasing numbers, I have met another lady being treated at the same time under the same oncologist who is also a victim. I have been referred to a dermatologist who says he is seeing about 10% of women now, that is not a small number or rare risk that manufacturers say.
I have read other stories on the site and they are heartfelt and sum up how I feel. It really is a life sentence I am not looking for retribution or compensation, but I would urge the manufacturers to research the reasons why this happens, so that future ladies can be spared the trauma and they plough some of their profits into the stem cell research to find a solution.

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