April 2017

Dental tips for chemotherapy treatment

Luckily I had a dental cleaning scheduled just before I had my first chemotherapy treatment and my dentist gave me a lot of great advice on how to take care of my gums and teeth during my chemotherapy treatment to treat my breast cancer.

He explained that chemotherapy can be very hard on our gums especially due to many of the chemotherapy drugs causing dry mouth. Dry mouth can lead to a host of dental problems including gum disease if dry mouth is left untreated!

I also found that my teeth and gums became VERY sensitive during chemotherapy treatment and unfortunately this lasted for several months after I completed chemotherapy. Fortunately, there are many things you can do to treat dry mouth, sensitive teeth and gums, and to improve dental health including:

Chewing sugar free gum or sucking on sugar free candy or mints
Brush teeth twice a day and floss teeth daily
Drink lots and lots of water
Use a sensitive Toothpaste
Use a sensitive Mouthrinse
Use a VERY soft Toothbrush

There are more specifics on products I found to be very helpful during my treatment that you can read about by clicking below:

Click here to read more specifics on Dental tips for chemotherapy treatment

Worry less and save money on your cancer treatment

When I was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 40 my first and foremost concern was of course for my health and to be able to see my two young daughters Jessica (then 5 yrs) and Emily (then almost 2 yrs) grow up.

My second concern was how much my cancer treatment would cost and how much of a financial hardship it would be for my family. I was (and still am) a stay at home mom, so our family was already on a pretty tight budget.

I spent a lot of sleepless nights worrying about how much my treatment of chemotherapy, surgery, and radiation would cost and how we would pay for it.

I was soon committed to not let my cancer treatment be a financial drain on my family. As you go through cancer treatment you have a lot of nights that you have trouble sleeping either due to the treatment medications you are taking or the worry in your mind and in your heart.

I decided whenever I couldn’t sleep I would research ways to save money on my cancer treatment and apply for anything that I could in order to save as much money as possible on my treatment.

Had I known through my ten months of treatment all that I know now I could have applied for programs earlier and maximized more of my benefits and probably had many fewer sleepless nights worrying about how we would pay for my treatment.

My goal is to help others who are burdened by this horrible disease called cancer. Hopefully the information on Cancerbutterfly.com will ease your mind about the financial side of your treatment, so you can focus on your health.

I wish you much luck with your health and your financial side of cancer.

Resources to help cancer treatment be more comfortable

There are a lot of resources available on Cancerbutterfly.com to help cancer patients be more comfortable as they go through cancer treatment and to help guide them along the way. The following resources are things I either used as I personally went through breast cancer treatment or wished I had known about during treatment that I wish to share with other cancer patients.

Chemotherapy can be very hard on our gums especially due to many of the chemotherapy drugs causing dry mouth. Dry mouth can lead to a host of dental problems. There are tips to help prevent dry mouth on our Dental tips page.

Our wigs resource page provides basic information on wigs, along with how to care for them. It also gives the differences between the two main types of wigs: Synthetic Hair Wig & Real Human Hair Wig.

Our Meal train resource page makes it really easy for a friend or family member to set up a meal delivery calendar for you and it is FREE!

Our Tips for Cancer Patients resource page provides lots of suggestions on things to help you during treatment. Every cancer patient needs help with different things that could make life easier or more enjoyable while they go through cancer treatment.

Our Tips for Those Who Love a Cancer Patient resource page provides lots of suggestions on things you can do to help someone going through cancer treatment. Are you wondering what you can do to help your friend or family member who is battling cancer?