What To Expect With Chemotherapy Treatment

Once you’ve heard the devastating diagnosis of cancer, your thoughts then race to the future and wondering what lies ahead.  A common treatment for various types of cancer is chemotherapy. The thought of chemotherapy brings immediate thoughts of impending death to mind. The truth is that this treatment is used for all types of cancer and doesn’t necessarily mean a grim diagnosis.

What is in Chemotherapy? Put simply, chemicals.  These chemicals are what cause your body to have a more severe reaction than other standard medicines. The strength of the chemotherapy is what is needed to destroy cancer cells and to prevent them from spreading. Often chemotherapy is given as a supplemental treatment after surgery to remove a malignancy. This is more of a preventative measure than a cure.  Even though a surgeon feels confident he was able to completely remove the tumor, he wants to make sure any remaining cancer cells are taken care of.

Chemotherapy treatment has come a long way in recent years.  If you think you are destined to sit in the hospital with an IV hooked up to you, this is not necessarily the case.   Although it’s true that most chemotherapy is delivered via an IV, some can be given in the form of a pill or liquid that can be brought home with you. Nausea is a common side effect of chemotherapy.  If you talk to your doctor and let him or her know that you are having issues with nausea, they can often adjust your treatment to provide relief.  Not all patients even have nausea, so you may be one of the fortunate ones who don’t need adjustments to your regimen.

Don’t assume you’ll lose all of your hair. Not all chemotherapy patients suffer from hair loss.  And if you do lose your hair, it will grow back as soon as chemotherapy is complete. Sometimes it will even start to grow back before you finish your last treatment. Some assume that as soon as the chemotherapy is over, they should be cured and be back to their normal selves.  The truth is that chemotherapy treatment does take a toll on your body and it may take a few months to start feeling like your old self again.  Each person will react to the treatment differently and will recover at a different rate.  If you take care of yourself with good nutrition and follow your doctor’s instructions, you will stand the best chance of feeling better sooner. With all of the advancements in chemotherapy in recent years, many patients are finding that it is not as bad as they had pictured in their mind.  Communicate with your doctor how you’re feeling and you should be back to yourself in no time.

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