My Story: Poison
In May of 2000, I began a series of four rounds of chemotherapy. Each round was three weeks long, and consisted of BEP, or Bleomycin, Etoposide, and Cisplatin. Each one is effectively a poison, designed to kill the fastest growing cells in your body. That includes cancer cells, but is not limited to them. That is why chemotherapy patients typically lose their hair.
The first week of every round was horrible. I spent the first half of each round nauseous and miserable, losing a little bit of every sense - seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching - in the process. I was taking medicines to counteract the side effects of medicines to counteract the side effects of medicines. My white blood cell count went down to dangerously low levels, such that I was incapable of fighting off infections. I had to give myself shots to stimulate white blood cell production, but I got such intense pain in my bones from it, that I had to stop and try other methods. Undergoing chemotherapy was by far the worst time of my life. I did, however, meet some of the most compassionate people I know - the infusion center nurses. I am forever grateful to them and all of the people in healthcare who devote their lives to the well-being of others.
After my first round was over, I noticed that I could easily pull out my hair. I went straight to my hairdresser, who buzzed it all off on the spot.
Before long, I was completely bald. I also lost my eyebrows, eyelashes, and almost every hair I had anywhere on my body.
