How to Prepare for Chemotherapy Treatments

Chemotherapy treatments are supposed to attack the cancer in its various stages, and kill off cancer by shrinking tumor growth. Treatment can be done with the various cancer drugs for chemo available at any stage of treatment. Many different cancers are treated with chemo successfully.

Instructions

• 1

  Cancer is Curable if Caught Early

  Chemotherapy works well when you catch most cancers early, like prostate cancer or pancreatic cancer. It is incurable once it starts multiplying through the blood stream. There are different kinds of medications to treat the disease through chemotherapy. Your doctor will find the one that is best for you. Chemo treatment is known as a palliative care treatment.

• 2

  Talk to Your Onocologist

  The oncologist or cancer doctor is the best to answer questions you may have about your cancer treatment. There are always lots of unanswered questions, so ask away. If a family member has cancer it is always so shocking in the beginning. You have to face it, and do all you can do for success.

• 3

  Different Medical Tests

  During cancer treatment your body is continually goes through tests to see how well you are doing. Many tests are CT scans, body scans, MRI tests, blood tests and urine tests.

• 4

  Different Cancer Drugs

  Some of the drugs that are used to combat the disease of cancer also help destroy the DNA and the immune system. Along with destroying cancer cells, it is also possible to destroy normal cells too.

• 5

  Beware of Side Effects

  There are many side effects to chemotherapy. You have to be aware of them beforehand. Some side effects are hair and appetite loss, constipation, nausea, diarrhea, fever, infections, ulcers in the stomach and the mouth, tingling in your hands and feet, and fatigue. Many of these side effects are temporary.

• 6

  Chemo is Less Stressful Than You Think

  Everyone at the hospital tries to make the chemotherapy experience a pleasant one, to alleviate the stress. The drug is injected into the blood stream intravenously through an IV. Sometimes it is even more than one cancer drug that they are introducing to you. I went through this with my husband, and it takes a couple of hours. It was done as an outpatient, coming back in 4 weeks for another injection. Then a day later another drug to lessen side effects of the chemotherapy. The nurses even served juice and lunch during the stay at the hospital for treatment.