CNN news anchor Sara Sidner, 51, is now a few months into chemotherapy for breast cancer and explains that although she tolerated treatment well early on, she’s beginning to feel more of its side effects, including some hair loss. She’s turned to hair-preserving cryotherapy and is focusing on improving her health by continuing to exercise during treatment.
Cryotherapy involves scalp-cooling devices approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for certain cancers, including breast cancer. It’s used before, during, and after chemotherapy. It works by constricting blood flow, thus limiting circulating chemotherapy from reaching hair follicles.
Chemotherapy’s side effects 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.
CNN news anchor Sara Sidner, 51, says after enduring the first few rounds of chemotherapy with little to no side effects, her stage 3 breast cancer treatments are beginning to take their toll. Despite the onset of chemo side effects – including some hair loss – the resilient journalist is determined to stay positive and take care of herself physically and emotionally.
“I felt pretty bad for a while. I still went to work, but there were a couple of times when I said,’ Can you guys bring the bucket over here? I might be sick,'” Sidner told CNN.
Sidner is an award-winning journalist who covers major news events in the U.S. and abroad. She was covering the unrest in Israel last Fall when she learned she needed a biopsy after getting a mammogram, which screens for breast cancer. The biopsy discovered a lump that turned out to be stage 3 breast cancer.
Since her diagnosis, Sidner has taken her cancer journey in stride, beginning with chemotherapy.
“For me, the first couple of infusions, I was fine in ways I could not have imagined. I actually asked my doctor if this s—t was working. I felt like superwoman,” Sidener recalled.
This past winter, Sidner shared video clips of herself doing intense exercise routines. However, by her fourth round of chemotherapy, the side effects started to take their toll.
She had already started cryotherapy, which involves wearing cold caps or special cooling caps before, during, and after each chemotherapy treatment to help preserve her hair.
“Normally, 60% to 80% of your hair goes after your second infusion and, if you’re lucky, into your third. I was prepared for it [hair loss],” Sidner said as she held up a strand of hair she’d lost so far.
WATCH: What is a scalp-cooling device?
Scalp-cooling devices have recently been approved by the FDA, first for breast cancer and then several other cancers. That means wearing cold caps or special cooling caps before, during, and after each chemotherapy treatment. The caps, which are tightly fitting and strap-on helmet-style, are filled with a gel coolant that’s chilled to between -15 and -40 degrees Fahrenheit.
Essentially, the caps “cause vasoconstriction, or a narrowing of the blood vessels bringing blood to the scalp,” Dr. Renata Urban, gynecologic oncologist at the University of Washington, explains.
By constricting the blood flow to the scalp, the caps limit the circulating chemotherapy that reaches the hair follicles, protecting them from some of the chemo’s damaging effects.
The cold also decreases the activity of the hair follicles, slowing down cell division and making the follicles less affected by the chemotherapy medicine.
WASHINGTON, DC – APRIL 29: Journalist Sara Sidner attends as Byron Allen & theGrio Celebrate Gayle King at the Washington D.C. Gala after The White House Correspondents Dinner at the National Museum Of African American History & Culture on April 29, 2023, in Washington, DC. (Photo by Richard Chapin Downs Jr./Getty Images)
Three months into her cancer journey, Sidner is nearly halfway through the 16 rounds of chemotherapy she’s scheduled to undergo.
“I’ve got several more months of chemo. Once that finishes, there’s a break, so your body sort of deals with the residuals of the chemo treatment. Then, I will get a double mastectomy. Then, I will get radiation. I mean, it feels like it’s never going to end,” Sidner said.
A double mastectomy is a procedure in which both breasts are removed to get rid of cancer. The procedure may also be performed as a preventative measure for women who are at a very high risk of developing breast cancer.
“A double mastectomy typically takes about two hours for the cancer part of the operation, the removing of the tissue,” Dr. Elisa Port, Chief of Breast Surgery at Mount Sinai Health System, tells SurvivorNet. “The real length, the total length of the surgery, can often depend on what type of reconstruction [a patient] has.”
WATCH: What Happens During a Double Mastectomy?
Dr. Port adds that most women opt to have some reconstruction after a mastectomy.
When Sidner receives radiation, the purpose of the treatment is to kill off any cancer cells that may remain in the breast or surrounding area after undergoing surgery.
“When it comes to radiation therapy for the breast, what we’re learning is that shorter courses of radiation, like short courses whole breast, may be associated with equal clinical outcomes and even the potential for reduced side effects,” Dr. Chirag Shah, director of breast radiation oncology at the Cleveland Clinic Cancer Center, explains to SurvivorNet.
WATCH: Debates Around Radiation for Breast Cancer
Based on the video shared by the candid and vulnerable journalist, Sidner focuses on staying in the best shape while undergoing treatment. She has become increasingly focused on what she puts in her body and the exercise she gets.
“From the time of puberty for me, I’ve disliked the way that my body is. When I asked my body to take in poison [Sidner’s reference to chemo] on a regular basis and then asked my body to survive, there was one day while in the gym, and I picked up my phone, and I’m thanking this body. This body that I have mentally tormented, I need to apologize to it,” she said while shedding tears.
“This is a lesson about real self-care, and real self-care to me is drinking enough water, going for a run, working out, letting yourself be mad, and letting yourself cry,” Sidner continued.
Sidner continues to anchor CNN’s “News Central” program during the week while undergoing treatment.
Helping Patients Cope with a Breast Cancer Diagnosis
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.
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. Urban said.
“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.
Treating Neuropathy Symptoms
Doctors have several strategies for helping patients deal with this side effect. Once a patient begins experiencing the symptoms of neuropathy, they’ll be carefully monitored to ensure they don’t get worse. Before each chemotherapy infusion, the attending oncologist will assess whether the symptoms have progressed. If the symptoms worsen, they may adjust the dose or delay treatment. They may also try switching to another chemotherapy drug.
WATCH: Managing chemo side effects.
How to Get a Handle on Nausea
Most of these anti-nausea medications last for more than eight hours. One of the infusions commonly used reduces the degree of nausea for up to three days.
Complementary approaches may also be helpful. A few favorites:
Ginger: Studies consistently show that ginger helps alleviate chemotherapy-induced nausea. The powerful herb appears to have an anti-spasmodic effect on the gut. Not a fan of raw ginger? Suck on ginger candy, sip ginger ale, or make a steaming cup of ginger tea.
Pressure bracelets: at your local pharmacy, these bracelets provide consistent pressure on a particular acupressure point on the wrist to reduce nausea.
Deep breathing: Moving air in and out of your lungs with a few deep breaths can help relieve nausea, particularly if you pair deep breathing exercises with meditation. It can also help you relax and release stress and anxiety.
How Exercise Can Impact Your Chemo Experience
The National Cancer Institute recommends cancer survivors maintain “some level of physical activity.” The NCI cites a 2018 report by the American College of Sports Medicine International Multidisciplinary Roundtable on Physical Activity and Cancer Prevention and Control, which found “strong evidence that moderate-intensity aerobic training and/or resistance exercise during and after cancer treatment can reduce anxiety, depressive symptoms, and fatigue and improve health-related quality of life and physical function.”
Additional research published in “Cancers” last year noted, “Physical activity has been shown to reduce the side effects of treatment and fatigue in cancer patients.”
WATCH: Exercising and Cancer
“Lack of exercise actually begets fatigue,” Dr. Marleen Meyers, a medical oncologist and Director of the Cancer Survivorship Program at NYU Perlmutter Cancer Center, told SurvivorNet in a previous conversation about how to deal with some of chemo’s most challenging side effects. “So the best treatment for fatigue is exercise. And what we have to do is get people over the hump, to get initial exercise going.” Dr. Meyers treats patients with breast cancer, but she said her advice applies to many other cancers as well.
What To Ask Your Doctor
If you have been diagnosed with breast cancer, you may have questions about keeping your strength through treatment. Here are a few questions to help you begin the conversation with your doctor:
What treatment will I be receiving?
What side effects are associated with this treatment?
Are there steps I can take daily to help minimize these side effects?
What physical activity routine do you recommend for me during treatment?
Do you have recommendations for someone who doesn’t particularly enjoy exercise?
Can you recommend a dietician who can help me with healthy eating tips and weight maintenance?
I’ve been having trouble sleeping. Do you have any treatment recommendations?
