'Anne with an E' Actress Gives Update on Cancer Journey
- Miranda McKeon revealed that she has started to lose her hair from chemo as she battles breast cancer, sharing the news in a surprisingly upbeat post and including an image of herself in a head scarf.
- “I've had foggy walks to the bathroom to satisfy extremely uncomfortable itchy scalp sensations by brushing out fistfuls of hair,” notes McKeon, who also says she sees her “internal sickness reflected out to the world” when people look at her in a headscarf.
- Hair loss typically starts two to four weeks after you start chemo, and continues for a few weeks afterward. Eventually, the hair should grow back.
The 19-year-old actress and college student shared the news in a surprisingly upbeat and positive post on her Instagram account where she has been detailing her ongoing breast cancer journey.
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“I'm currently taking antibiotics for strep throat (*if a higher power is listening*, girl, plz give me a break!!!!like, seriously), I haven't slept well the past two nights- I've had foggy walks to the bathroom to satisfy extremely uncomfortable itchy scalp sensations by brushing out fistfuls of hair,” notes McKeon.
“I return to bed with my mind racing, too stimulated to fall back to sleep. In short, my life is not picture perfect (I'm sure this doesn't need to be said but still, I have glimpses where I feel it is).”
She goes on to say that she is in an airport for the first time since she started chemo, and describes how it feels to see people look at her like she is sick.
“I see my internal sickness reflected out to the world. I've gotten a few stares but nothing too bad. I'm sporting a thin mane concealed by a scarf that leaves my narrative blank, for strangers to write,” says McKeon.
“The thought of what stories they will craft for me puts a feeling in my throat that is hard to swallow. Or maybe it's just the strep throat. I fear their narratives will be worse than the one I am living. I fear that they will feel sorry for me. Or maybe I fear that their narratives will be spot on. That they look at me and see a young cancer patient. A blog post on this to come I'm sure.”
She then notes: “Still, LOOK HOW FUC*{%*\+] cute I am!!!!!!!! Like, who let me look this good?!”
The tone of this latest post is far more upbeat than those from last week, in which McKeon spoke about the struggles she was having during her second round of chemo.
“Keeping it real. My morning was absolute shit,” McKeon wrote at the start of a lengthy Instagram post.
“I've had a sore throat for a week and a half. I just want to swallow again. I was feeling so fragile and I got one of those COVID tests that goes to the brain and a double strep test (both negative) and that pretty much sent me over the edge. I cried for the rest of the morning.”
Then, for the first time since she was diagnosed with breast cancer in June, McKeon said she was sad and scared.
“I'm so scared to lose my hair. I hope cold capping is effective and it doesn't all go,” she wrote.
“I don't want to feel sick again for another week. I haven't felt truly sad since I wrote my last post on grieving about a month ago. I've felt like I should feel sad but honestly I've been extremely happy recently. But this morning I felt sad to the core.”
Now that her hair is coming out, that fear seems to have mostly vanished and McKeon has found a new perspective.
“Excited for the chemo to kill more cancer today. Feeling optimistic for this afternoon. LFG!!!!!!” wrote Miranda.
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McKeon said in a recent interview that she is trying to find the “beauty” in her stage III breast cancer, while her mother recounted how devastating those first appointments were after her daughter’s diagnosis.
Jill McKeon said that reality sank in almost immediately when they met with doctors, who at some point began to discuss her daughter’s fertility.
“That was gutting,” Jill said in an interview with People. “I said to the doctor, ‘We’ll talk about that later, this is already enough information.’ She was like, ‘Actually, we’re talking about this because we have to.’ ”
A week later, McKeon was injecting herself with hormones so she could undergo the procedure before chemotherapy.
McKeon is now in the midst of four months of chemotherapy to target the stage III breast cancer which has spread to her lymph nodes.
“It’s a safety net,” McKeon said of freezing her eggs. “I’ll probably be able to have kids naturally on my own, and hopefully they’ll just be donated to science in however many years, but we’ll see.”
McKeon has said that writing and sharing her story has also helped her get through these difficult times.
She admitted that the Instagram posts she shares are also a good substitute on those days when journaling is too difficult.
It was just one month ago that Miranda announced that she was one of the rare teenagers to get diagnosed with breast cancer.
“Pink is my new color!!!!! It is with a heavy yet hopeful heart that I share news that I was recently diagnosed with breast cancer,” wrote McKeon at the time.
“I am 19 and as statistics go- the chances of having breast cancer at this age are one in a million! (literally, look it up on Google) I am so special- but we knew this💛!”
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McKeon said that she was traveling to San Francisco where she was planning to spend a few weeks working on a sustainable farm when she got a call about a biopsy she had done a week prior. She had just touched down in California at the time, but 90 minutes later was back on a plane heading home so she could undergo more tests.
Related: Angelina Jolie Details Her Grief Over Cancer Loss
The actress said that she was showered with love from her family and friends the next few days before learning that the lump she felt was indeed cancer.
“So the long and short of it is – I am embarking on a journey that is not of my choosing, but one I know I can handle,” wrote McKeon.
“There will be really difficult times ahead when life feels impossible. But for now, I am headed into this with optimism, positivity, and surrounded by love.”
McKeon hasn’t detailed her treatment plan, but did say last week that it would involve surgery, chemotherapy and radiation. She also made a point of telling her young followers not to feel sad for her or worry they too might have cancer, accurately pointing out that only four percent of those who are diagnosed with breast cancer every year are under the age of 40.
Combating the Side Effects of Chemo
One of the most feared aspects of getting chemotherapy is its side effects. Some women anticipate feeling violently sick to their stomach or helplessly watching their hair wash down the shower drain. Oncologists remind their patients that today's treatment isn't their grandparents' chemotherapy.
"One of the things that patients worry most about is nausea with chemotherapy," Dr. Michael Ulm, gynecologic oncologist at West Cancer Center in Memphis previously told SurvivorNet. "Everybody remembers what their parents went through or what their aunts and uncles went through probably 15 or 20 years ago."
Today, things are different. Your doctor has a whole arsenal of effective treatments to combat nausea and other unpleasant side effects of chemotherapy. "I tell my patients, with modern medicine and modern antiemetics that you should never have severe nausea and you should never throw up," said Dr. Ulm.
Fighting Infections
Chemotherapy works so well against cancer because it targets cells that divide quickly. The problem is, cancer isn't the only type of cell in your body that multiplies rapidly. New blood cells in your bone marrow do the same thing.
Chemotherapy drugs can damage all three types of blood-forming cells, causing these problems:
- Red blood cells that carry oxygen to your body: anemia
- Platelets that help your blood clot when you're injured: thrombocytopenia
- White blood cells that help your body fight infections: neutropenia
Losing your white blood cells, and with them, the ability to adequately fight infections, is an especially big problem now that coronavirus is spreading. "One of the things that’s changed in the coronavirus days is that now we’re giving everybody this drug called Neupogen or Neulasta, and it helps boost your white [blood cell] count," said Dr. Ulm.
Fatigue
Another unwelcome effect of carboplatin may be extreme tiredness. Fatigue tends to get worse, the more cycles of chemotherapy you get.
Managing anemia, if you have it, should help ease the exhaustion. There are also things you can do to give yourself more energy, like taking rest breaks during the day, exercising often, and getting a full 7 to 8 hours of sleep each night. Your treatment team can give you other advice on how to beat fatigue.
Nerve Damage
Both types of chemo drugs can damage the nerves that send sensation to your body. If you have this damage, called neuropathy, you may have symptoms like these:
- A 'pins-and-needles' feeling
- Pain
- Burning
- Numbness
- Weakness
- Trouble feeling heat and cold
These symptoms may get worse with each additional cycle of chemotherapy you get. Your cancer treatment team should watch you for symptoms like these. An adjustment in your chemo dose might be enough to stop them.
Or, your doctor might prescribe one of these medicines to relieve nerve pain:
- Steroids
- Numbing patches or cream
- Antidepressant medicine
- Anti-seizure medicine
Treatments like physical therapy, relaxation techniques, and acupuncture might also help. Nerve pain and other symptoms sometimes go away once you finish treatment. But in certain cases, they can last long-term and require ongoing treatment.
Hair Loss
Because your hair is tied into your self-image, its loss can be devastating. And the hair loss with chemotherapy affects not just the scalp, but also the eyelashes, eyebrows, and other areas of the body.
Hair loss typically starts two to four weeks after you start chemo, and continues for a few weeks afterward. Eventually, the hair should grow back. In the meantime, you can conceal the loss with a scarf or a wig custom-made for you. You might also try a scalp cooling cap, which helps to reduce the amount of hair lost.
Knowledge Reduces Fear
Having an idea of what to expect when you're about to start treatment can make chemotherapy a lot less scary. Before you start your first cycle, ask your doctor about the medicines you'll be taking and how they could affect you. Also find out what treatments you might get to help alleviate these side effects.
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