Janet's Blog

(Feel free to click the image for a close-up. It's icky.)

Do you keep things in your pockets? Keys? Spare change? An empty gum wrapper? Your work ID card?

What if, when you went to reach in to your pocket to retrieve something, your fingernails didn't come out with your hand? The photo to the left illustrates a potential side-effect of Abraxane. The part of the nail below the green-black portion is the part that is still attached to my finger; all but my pinky on my right hand--and so far three of the nails on my left--have lifted off the nail bed. It's uncomfortable and troubling.

At my last doctor's appointment, I was hoping for advice that would help. Could I use nail glue to glue them down? What about stuff that might get stuck under there? Will they detach completely, or will the lifted parts grow out? Lita didn't know for sure. They might fall off completely. She did say that nails that lift from chemo treatments tend to not get nail infections, and if they smell weird, to use epsom salts. Dr. Hayes helpfully suggested, "wear nail polish."

Great.

My fingertips are sore. Typing is irritating and I can't open things very easily. Baxter has no idea that grabbing my hand with his little teeth might result in an unfortunate snack.

Finally, some non-icky photos:

Labels: Abraxane, Baxter, chemo, Dr. Hayes, Lita, nails

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