chemotherapy patients

Cancer is a disease that gains more and more of the ground we used to own in health matters especially now, in the 21st century. Highly powerful medication remains the main way to deal with the disease which is why chemotherapy patients have to be informed on the necessity and the specificity of the cancer treatments.

The most widely used treatment of cancer is chemotherapy either followed or preceded by surgery. Chemotherapy patients usually have to deal with overwhelming physical and psychological stress. One's morale can easily break down because of the physical sufferance chemotherapy brings. The side effects that one will experience may eat away at one's self-esteem, since they may include alopecia, constant nausea and dizziness, pains and infections of all sorts depending on the part of the body that is affected or on the type of medication that has been prescribed to follow. Some chemotherapy patients think that they lose the grip of who they are since they can no longer perform certain activities that have previously defined their life or that have brought smiles on their faces.

Another impact level on chemotherapy patients is the psychological one. They need to receive the moral needed support from their family and friends and the trouble is that many choose not to share this burden with their loved ones. Feeling alone and depressed could significantly alter the evolution of the disease. Not being able to talk about it as you would, not being able to share will make you feel marginalized, separated from the people in your life and will break your morale.

On the other hand, those chemotherapy patients that initially build rapport with family and friends and choose to communicate about it and share the burden, may end up feeling guilty for spoiling family life and for being set on the top priority list, a list that is usually not considered a pleasure bringing one. They themselves may end up feeling that they have turned into a burden to their family putting strain on relationships and may choose to seclude themselves as a result of this feeling.

All these considered, it is highly understandable that family and friends of chemotherapy patients should be informed about what their beloved ones are going through and about how help can be provided in such situations. The moral strength of chemotherapy patients can be kept above surface level or increased only by psychologists and people who honestly display affection and interest in helping.

Tags: chemotherapy side effects, cancer chemotherapy, chemotherapy drugs, chemotherapy protocol, Cancer

 

oral chemotherapy

Chemotherapy hair loss is one of the numerous effects of this cancer treatment. What is the reason why hair loss occurs during chemotherapy? The medication used in chemotherapy is extremely powerful and it destroys all the developing cancer cells, although they affect other body parts too. There are normal body cells with a rapid growth rate, and they are not cancer; the cells in the digestive tract and the hair follicles are the main examples here. The effects of chemotherapy on hair are manifest for all the body parts covered by hair. Thus, patients will experience the loss of eyebrows, eyelashes, pubic and armpit hair.

There is a wide variety of drugs that are used in chemotherapy. Among these, obviously some are more likely to cause chemotherapy hair loss than others. The difference in chemotherapy drug doses is another aspect to consider when hair loss is under discussion, as hair loss ranges from thinning to complete baldness. Thus, make sure to discuss all such details with your doctor, in order to be prepared to cope with hair loss psychologically.

Hair usually starts falling out after 10–14 days from the beginning of the treatment. It may happen quite fast, either in clumps or gradually. Chemotherapy hair loss remains a problem throughout the entire period of the treatment and a month afterwards. Half of the hair can fall out before this is noticed by people around. Luckily, in most cases, chemotherapy hair loss is a temporary effect. Hair will probably grow back within six months to one year after the cessation of the treatment. The new hair could have a slightly different shade of color, with the mention that even the texture could be altered too.

The hair recovery period after chemotorapy is six weeks on the average, and the growth rate will be somewhere around a quarter inch per month. When the hair starts growing back again, it might be a little different from the hair that was lost because of therapy. The changes will stop and the hair will become what it used to be before the treatment the moment the cells that control the hair pigment begin working again. Unfortunately, one cannot prevent chemotherapy hair loss as there is no treatment which will guarantee that the hair will not fall out.

Tags: breast chemotherapy, chemotherapy drug, chemotherapy drugs, chemotherapy protocol, chemotherapy hair loss, chemotherapy side effects, chemotherapy treatmen, chemotherapy patients, Cancer