Soon after Real Housewife of Orange County, Tamra Judge, announced that her ex-husband Simon Barney had completed his cancer treatment, the former house husband shared side-by-side photos chronicling his battle with the disease. Below you will see his recent post, giving us a visual of his transformation and how he’s embracing changes he’s faced.
Barney was diagnosed with stage 3 throat cancer in February, prompting Judge to leave The Real Housewives of Orange County after appearing for 12 seasons. Throughout his treatment, Judge has been sharing encouraging updates with fans about Barney’s progress as he underwent chemotherapy and radiation treatments. According to Judge, Barney remained positive despite the challenging battle with cancer and clearly it paid off, seeing as in beginning of July she shared that he had completed cancer treatment. On Instagram, Barney shared three photos representing the “before, during, and after” phases of his cancer journey calling it a Metamorphosis.
Read MoreHow Appearance Changes During Cancer Treatment
Many people know about one obvious side-effect of chemotherapy during cancer treatment hair-loss. Watching your appearance change can be a difficult experience for many people, but it’s important to note that many of the physical side effects are usually only temporary.
For patients who are worried about their appearance changing during cancer treatment, it’s important to have an open and honest conversation with your oncologist about fears and learning all the information. Breast cancer survivor Caitlin Kiernan was aware of how important it was to get proper medical treatment when she was diagnosed, but she also admits that she cared a lot about how she looked. She encourages all cancer patients to get the facts if they have questions.
Breast cancer survivor Caitlin Kiernan encourages cancer patients to ask questions
“You know, I talk about advocating for yourself, but I also think you have to advocate for the kind of results you want,” Kiernan says. “I think a lot of women don’t know to ask about, where are my scars going to be? How is this going to affect me when I’m in a bra, or when I’m intimate with a partner? And I was a young, single woman…You’re going to have to live with these results the rest of your life. So ask the questions now. If a doctor makes you feel bad about that, you get up and you leave. They’re not your people.”
Another side-effect of cancer treatment is often weight loss, mainly because a person’s appetite can be severely cut while undergoing chemotherapy and radiation. To help with this side effect, some cancer survivors recommend using medical marijuana to increase appetite. Fortunately, weight loss is something that can be monitored, and appetite is likely to return once finishing treatment or adjusting certain doses of chemotherapy and radiation.
Breast cancer survivor and author Caitlin Kiernan says feeling beautiful isn’t about outside beauty
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