Pausing to Acknowledge Milestone Moments
- News Nation anchor of its weekday program “News Nation Now,” anchor Nichole Berlie, marks a monumental milestone during her months-long breast cancer journey – the end of chemotherapy. She shared with supportive fans that she’s done with chemo infusions but expects to feel the impacts of chemo side effects for a few more months. Notably, she’s eagerly anticipating her hair’s regrowth and diminishing fatigue.
- Chemotherapy can cause hair loss. It usually begins about three to four weeks after chemotherapy and continues throughout treatment. Fortunately, your hair usually regrows after treatment concludes.
- If losing your hair is a concern for you before cancer treatment, know you have options like wigs, hats, wraps, and scarves, among other things.
- Chemotherapy’s side effects also include fatigue, gastrointestinal effects, nausea, and more. Chemo drugs designed to kill cancer cells also impact healthy cells, leading to side effects.
- To better manage chemotherapy side effects, experts recommend exercising and eating a nutritious diet with enough fruits, vegetables, and protein. Getting enough sleep helps with fatigue and allows you to recover quicker. Your doctor may also recommend medications to help with side effects.
- Reaching milestones during or after a cancer battle matters. Milestones may include things like getting engaged or reaching another birthday, except they may mean even more than they did previously. Hence, taking them all in is important, and celebrating all you’ve overcome is important.
News Nation anchor of its weekday program, “News Nation Now,” anchor Nichole Berlie pauses to commemorate a significant milestone in her battle against breast cancer: her triumphant completion of chemotherapy.
“I get to finally say goodbye to chemotherapy,” Berlie said excitedly in an Instagram post.
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During your cancer journey, acknowledging the milestones helps you get through the various stages of treatment and beyond.
Cancer patients tend to gain an added sense of gratitude along their cancer journeys. So, when milestone moments like completing chemo arise, they have a more significant meaning.
Berlie is a veteran news anchor with Nebraska roots. After reporting the news in a few television markets across the United States over the years, she joined News Nation in 2020. When she was diagnosed with breast cancer late last year, it seemingly caught her by surprise because she didn’t have any typical signs like a lump on the breast or swelling.
“I didn’t have any signs, I didn’t have any symptoms, I still don’t. And I still feel great. But, as I now know firsthand, you can have cancer, and you can feel and look fine,” Berlie said during her newscast.
In the weeks and months since she’s taken her news viewers along for the ride of her cancer journey. The ups and downs of chemotherapy, which includes hair loss, were evident.
Roughly three months after publicly announcing her diagnosis, Berlie says she’s finally ready to close the book on the chemotherapy stage of her journey.
“The effects of chemotherapy are definitely going to stick with me for a while. The last time I went to chemotherapy, my white blood cells were actually at the lowest they had been this entire time,” she explained.
“I’m still going to be immunocompromised for a while, and my oncologist told me it can sometimes take up to a year, if not longer, for you to be fully recovered from the effects of chemotherapy,” she continued.
Among the things she’s ready for post-chemo is hair regrowth.
WATCH: Coping with hair loss.
“There are no eyebrows left, the lashes are gone – these are fake – but it’s okay. Those are all minor things because the important thing is knocking out this cancer,” Berlie quipped.
As the popular news anchor’s cancer journey continues, she says surgery and radiation still awaits.
Most women with breast cancer will have surgery at some point in their treatment. Depending on the stage of your cancer, you and your doctor may decide to:
- Remove just the cancer and an area of healthy tissue around it (lumpectomy)
- Remove one breast (mastectomy)
- Remove both breasts (double mastectomy)
“When you’re facing the unknown, particularly of this magnitude, it can be overwhelming and intimidating,” she said before marking the monumental milestone of her final chemotherapy infusion.
According to Cancer.net, patients and their support groups filled with loved ones are encouraged to partake in activities to help recognize and celebrate memorable milestones. These activities may include planning a nice dinner or party-like gathering and spending time donating money or volunteering to a cancer charity. Perhaps the way you memorialize your cancer milestone could be independent of others. Examples include a solitary walk-in nature and allowing your senses to take hold while you reflect.
Helping Patients Cope with a Breast Cancer Diagnosis
Managing Chemotherapy and Its Side Effects
Chemotherapy is an effective tool for oncologists to help treat cancer by stopping cancerous cells from growing, dividing, and spreading to other organs. Chemo works by traveling through the bloodstream, killing cancerous cells. However, the process also impacts healthy cells, leading to side effects.
WATCH: Adjusting to Chemotherapy
Patients almost universally experience fatigue, often alongside gastrointestinal side effects, such as nausea. Doctors have many effective medications to combat chemo-induced nausea. “But mitigating that fatigue often depends on the patient,” Dr. Renata R. Urban, a gynecologic oncologist at the University of Washington, tells SurvivorNet.
“Neuropathy is probably one of the most challenging side effects,” Dr. Urban continued.
Neuropathy results from damage to the peripheral nerves. It usually resolves after chemotherapy treatment, but sometimes symptoms can persist. While it’s typically characterized by numbness or a pins-and-needles sensation in the hands and feet, neuropathy can have several different symptoms, including:
- Weakness in the hands or feet
- Stabbing or burning pain in the hands or feet
- Difficulty gripping, such as when holding a fork
- Difficulty with fine motor skills, such as writing or buttoning a shirt
Nausea and vomiting are common side effects of chemotherapy. When chemotherapy affects the rapidly dividing cells in the stomach lining, the resulting cellular havoc in the gastrointestinal tract can lead to side effects such as nausea and vomiting. However, doctors can help patients mitigate the hit with various medications before, during, and after treatment.
“Part of the chemotherapy prescription includes a set regimen of anti-nausea medications…We also ensure patients have medications at home that they can use should they develop nausea after treatment,” Dr. Urban added.
Tips to Navigating Chemo Side Effects
Doctors don’t have an arsenal of prescription medications to combat fatigue. However, you can do several things to help minimize the hit and restore your energy.
- Exercise: While it may be counterintuitive, physical activity can help alleviate side effects, especially fatigue. “Although ovarian cancer is not common, we often draw upon the experience of patients with breast cancer and colon cancer that have shown that physical activity can not only improve quality of life but may also have beneficial impacts on cancer outcomes,” Dr. Urban says.
- Eat well: Even though nausea may interfere with your ability to eat a healthy diet, it’s essential to ensure you’re eating appropriately, getting enough protein, and not losing weight. Not only will nourishing your body support your recovery, but it may also help you feel more energized.
- Sleep: Want to mitigate fatigue? Be sure to maintain your regular sleep-wake cycle while on treatment. Sticking to a set sleep schedule helps reduce fatigue by ensuring enough hours for your body to heal and restore itself each night. It may also help you recover more quickly by keeping energy levels high during the daytime.
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