APOLLO BEACH, Fla. — While Apollo Beach dentist Danoosh Amrooei battles breast cancer, she’s also helping fellow chemo patients by handing out 500 dental care packages at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Riverview.
Amrooei is the dentist who didn’t want to brush her teeth.
“After my first chemo, I went to brush my teeth and it was super-painful,” she says.
In June, not too long after she opened Monaco Dentistry in Apollo Beach, Danoosh was diagnosed with breast cancer.
Fearing a side effect of chemotherapy called neuropathy, the dentist hired an associate to help her with her patients.
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“Neuropathy is when you lose feeling in your fingers and toes,” she says. “That’s not good for a dentist, because you don’t want to drop anything sharp in someone’s mouth!”
She was also dealing with her own dental issues. Chemo was wreaking havoc in her mouth, affecting her teeth and gums.
“I didn’t want to brush my teeth, and I’m a dentist!” she laughs.
So since she couldn’t work on her dental patients, she decided to help her fellow chemo warriors suffering mouth pain.
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Thanks to robust donations, Danoosh delivered 500 fully stocked dental care packages — with soft toothbrushes, sensitive toothpaste, mouth rinses and more — to St. Joseph’s Hospital in Riverview.
She’s also trying to help other cancer patients stay positive with her uplifting YouTube channel Chemo Talk.
“I really like helping people,” she says. “I always have.”
And even more good news? Danoosh is feeling good and just had her last chemo treatment.