My toenail just came off!

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brittonkb
brittonkb Member Posts: 102
edited June 2022 in Managing Side Effects of Breast Cancer and Its Treatment

I had AC followed by weekly Taxol but finished in December 2020. I was just rubbing nail polish remover on my big toenail and the nail peeled most of the way off. I’ve admittedly been wearing polish for way to long without giving my toenails a breather. Has anyone heard of this happening 1.5 years after finishing Taxol? I take Arimidex now and have semi-annual Zometa infusions but wouldn’t expect either of those to cause this. Or perhaps it has nothing to do with cancer/treatment and I just need to see a podiatrist? Thanks to anyone with I sigjt

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  • WC3
    WC3 Member Posts: 1,540
    edited June 2022

    brittonkb:

    Tonenails grow slowly so damage to them or the nail bed can persist for months after the damaging event until that area grows out completely. My big toenail stopped growing during chemotherapy and afterwards the cuticle had appeared to be infected but what had actually happened was that instead of growing out, the nail had thickened and when it began to grow out again, the end of the thick part had to clear the cuticle. What I was left with was an odd "step" that took over a year to completely grow out.

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  • brittonkb
    brittonkb Member Posts: 102
    edited June 2022

    Thanks for the response and sharing your experience. I talked to both my oncologist and dermatologist who both said the exact same thing. I was a little freaked oit

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  • WC3
    WC3 Member Posts: 1,540
    edited July 2022

    brittonkb:

    I completely understand. I was freaked out by my toenail weirdness too! Toenails seem like a mundane thing to worry about but

    I just noticed half of my lost got cut off up there and I left everyone wuth a cliff hanger.

    What I had intended to say was they can seem like a mundane thing but I think it's when those mundane things we take for granted are amiss it can be more disturbing than when something less ordinary is.

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  • PiperKay
    PiperKay Member Posts: 173
    edited June 2022

    I had a toenail pop off when I was getting a pedicure for the first time after chemo ended. Right into the hand of the nail tech! I was freaked out but she was unphased, like it happened every day! LOL

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  • DutchieGirl
    DutchieGirl Member Posts: 103
    edited June 2022

    I was close to 3 years out from treatment when I lost a toenail. It wasn't my first either. I could see the new toenail was "wavy" so I used a fake nail and glued it to the existing toenail. It now is fully grown in and straight. I think it's perfectly normal to have this kind of thing happen for a couple of years after treatment.

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