Clea Shearer Describes "Agony" Of Latest Chemotherapy Round
- Home Edit star Clea Shearer, 40, called her latest round of chemotherapy "more agony than I hope anyone ever has to endure” but said she has found a way to stay optimistic despite the pain.
- After recovering from the treatment, she vowed to continue to fight, saying “2023 is going to be my year.”
- Anecdotal evidence from SurvivorNet experts points to how a positive mindset and gratitude can positively impact a cancer prognosis.
In an Instagram post that included a photo taken by her mother as Shearer was receiving the treatment, the 40-year-old called the effects of the drugs Adriamycin and Cyclophosphamide) "nothing short of a living hell" and "the worst thing I've ever experienced."
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"It struck me that I never realized my nurses are in full hazmat suits while they administer my toxic treatment. I've clearly been there each time, yet it never sunk in. When she sent me this picture, my reaction to the drugs finally made sense. I wanted my own hazmat suit," she said. "I didn't want this in my body. Surely there was another way. There wasn't. There isn't."
Shearer said the pain was so intense, she couldn't walk and that her bones and skin hurt.
"I couldn't keep my eyes open, but I also couldn't sleep," she said.
However, in true Shearer fashion, she was able to find a ray of hope in the darkness.
"I woke up Monday feeling so much better I almost cried. I was out of the woods, turned a corner, was on the other side of the mountain – and every other euphemism you can find for being effing DONE with the worst thing I've ever experienced," she wrote.
Shearer expressed determination to get through the next four months of treatment, which includes 12 weeks of chemotherapy and five weeks of radiation therapy, saying "it all gets easier from here and I couldn't be happier. I even spent the morning on the St Regis Rome website because literally why not…2023 is going to be my year."
Clea Shearer’s Breast Cancer Journey
In April 2022, Clea Shearer announced that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer and that she would be undergoing a double mastectomy.
"I found a lump myself (in) the last week of February," Clea posted to Instagram on April 7. "I had been trying to make an appt with my OB(GYN) for several months, and even when I told them I found a lump, they couldn't accommodate me. I had to request a mammogram from my general doctor, which led to an ultrasound, and then an emergency triple biopsy."
Clea, who's been sharing regular updates about her health on Instagram, was originally told her cancer was stage 1, but during the nine-hour surgery on Friday, April 8, doctors found cancer in one of her lymph nodes, which elevated the cancer to stage 2. The type of breast cancer Clea was diagnosed with hasn't been been made public yet, but she said her cancer is "aggressive and fast-moving," however, "I caught it early."
She had two tumors, one measuring 2 centimeters in size and the other 3 centimeters (she was originally told each tumor was 1 centimeter). The tumors were sent to a lab in order to determine if Clea will need chemotherapy or radiation, and as stated earlier, it turns out she'll need both.
Clea underwent a second breast cancer surgery because, as she shared on Instagram, "some of my skin tissue is just NOT having it…"
Staying Positive Through Cancer
Focusing on hope, and maintaining a positive attitude through a cancer battle as Clea Shearer is doing can help. Shearer told E!, "The good days are honestly great. I feel like myself. It's almost exhilarating. It's like when you wake up after being sick from the flu and that very first day you're like, 'I feel great. I feel amazing.’"
"Overall it's not easy," she continues, "but it's absolutely manageable and it's saving my life. I'm grateful for it."
She has also previously discussed the challenges of chemotherapy, saying she “slugs through the bad days.”
Mental Health: Maintaining A Positive Headspace
Anecdotal evidence from SurvivorNet experts points to how a positive mindset and gratitude can positively impact a cancer prognosis. One oncologist at Cedars-Sinai tells SurvivorNet in an earlier interview, "My patients who thrive, even with stage 4 cancer, from the time that they, about a month after they're diagnosed, I kind of am pretty good at seeing who is going to be OK. Now doesn't that mean I'm good at saying that the cancer won't grow," he says.
"But I'm pretty good at telling what kind of patient are going to still have this attitude and probably going to live the longest, even with bad, bad disease. And those are patients who, they have gratitude in life."
With files from Anne McCarthy
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