Chemotherapy, how to face it? | Diseases and conditions.

Chemotherapy, how to face it?

Among the most common to combat treatments cancer disease is chemotherapy along with radiotherapy, hormone therapy. These techniques, according to each patient's needs, can be applied separately or jointly.
Chemotherapy is a treatment by which a drug or a set of them is used to remove cancer cells in the body. This implies that other healthy cells can see affected, producing negative side effects.

Negative effects of chemotherapy

Among the adverse effects of chemotherapy is hair loss generalized in body, fatigue, loss of appetite, nausea and vomiting, diarrhea or sores in the mouth and lips. One of the consequences of introducing foreign materials in the body is that it reacts aggressively to them, trying to remove them as you can, hence the appearance of vomiting and diarrhoea. But the most problematic symptom associated with this type of healing is the loss of sensitivity to odors and flavors.
As happens to a hospitalized patient, which seems to him that all food from the hospital know same, smells which are under this treatment food and tastes bad. Actually the foods you eat are the same as always, but as you have stomach stirred by drugs that has consumed causes Kickback at lunchtime. In addition, when you eat it can be found quickly has to go to the bathroom to vomit it, because the stomach is irritated by chemicals and food is not well supported.
This problem is seen sharpness when we have people that they need to be served to eat, as in the case of minors and the elderly. It is not that they might have a unit that needed to be assisted for these tasks, but with chemotherapy prior to treatment and its effects there is a loss of appetite, refusing to take any food. It must be borne in mind that not all of these effects will be present, since it depends on the chemotherapy treatment administered and the strength of the body, but yes it can appear several of these consequences.

Are these effects permanent?

It is important to think that almost all of these side effects are usually temporary, staying more or less time depending on the strength of the body. He thinks that, in the end, when the treatment is completed these effects will disappear.
Check that it is deteriorated progressively, when it should be improving, tends to be the hardest part of treatment with chemotherapy; but keep in mind that it is fighting the disease and as happens when we resfriamos, we encamamos and have fever as a healing mechanism, so also in the fight against cancer the body suffers.

How should patient cope with chemotherapy?

Chemotherapy treatment is applied according to the age of the patient, to the type of cancer, its extension and the general State of health of the affected.
The going from a chemotherapy session to another is the time that the person needs to recover from its effects. For this reason it is so important that the person receives the necessary advice to carry out a reorganization of its life, which take into account not only of treatment sessions, but the side effects that truck, which often limit the development of a normal life.
The patient must learn to understand that the experience of receiving chemo will not only affect you physically, but it can totally change your life. The person depends on taking advantage of these changes to learn and grow as a person, adapting to them, or suffer to see how his life cannot remain as he had known it so far.
They will present difficulties, moments that you have to make important decisions, are going to arise problems, disillusions and disappointments, but it will also experiment support, affection, respect and love, dedication and patience, companionship and the delivery of family, friends and medical personnel. One same depends on know to appreciate the nuances of these new experiences that can both enrich your life, without therefore remain alien to the difficulties. Learning that many will change, becoming delivered people to squeeze every moment, helping others and sharing with others the good life.
Many are the changes that the person with cancer should take in his new life. It is not only put a dent in the agenda, to make revisions or for treatment sessions, it is much more. It is creating a new style of life around the disease: now has to take care of more physically, you will have to change your way of eating and drinking, you will have to work to reduce anxiety, avoid excesses and do daily exercises of maintenance.

How does chemotherapy to couple and family relationships?

One of the aspects to planning during cancer treatment is the relationship, since this can be seriously damaged, can cause the separation or divorce. This is both due to the exhaustion from the couple, by having to attend to the patient, be always aware of it, take care of him and also take their own life and obligations later, as because the relationship between them is not stable.
To overcome all these difficulties is convenient that there is good communication between the couple, is necessary to make a schedule in which decide how to deliver patient care time, so this is not the only activity of the couple. Leaving it thus time of relaxation and recreation that can exercise any activity that separate you and serve you to disconnect from the status of patient care.

How it affects affiliates relations and how to help?

Parents, when a child is who is sick of cancer and treatment, typically remain at his side, dividing the tasks of your care and combining that careful with their own chores, to the extent possible in order to continue life as normal as possible. Thinking between two care and household tasks are made more bearable.
An aspect to be considered by the parents is that their children behave certain way depending on the reactions that they see in others, if they feel rejected or overprotected them will tend to worry, because they will understand that what they have is more serious. Hence the importance that parents overcome their own fears and concerns, and obtain all the necessary information about the disease, its evolution and cure to offer sincere support to their children, without having to hide crying when he not look, or fights between the couple for not released tensions.
In the case where the adult is the patient, an important error which sometimes incurred is seek the support of the children for part of the patient or his partner.
Sometimes the children reflect the concern of parents, endorsing it and putting them bad, other times ill looking for the attention they have lost when donning one of his sick parents. In all these cases, best thing to do is to talk to them calmly to clean off any fears they may have.

How can friends help a patient with cancer?

Sometimes, the cancer can produce a prejudice in personal and social relationships. With regard to relations of friendship, if these are strongly established will be an important source of support, especially in times of recovery between the stages of the treatment. On the other hand, if it's superfluous friendships, where it unites them is not a loop of sincerity and trust, but only share a few concerns or activities in common, is possible that the patient will be losing those friendships. First, because a person with cancer that follow a treatment of this type will not have the same time than before to cultivate that friendship, and may not have health or encouragement to continue with these activities. Secondly, because for the reasons some friends will begin to count less and less with that person, until a time that no longer have it in mind in their plans.
It is therefore necessary also to establish a management regarding friendships, to address them as far as possible when the patient this recovered between sessions of chemo treatment.
Anyway, the patient should not judge the behavior of others based on their own point of view, as for others, life has not changed, they are still with the same expectations and way of living and has been the patient who has been separated from that life because of their personal circumstances.

Published for educational purposes
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