5 Questions To Ask Your Doctor About Chemotherapy
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What Is Chemotherapy?
Chemotherapy or “chemo” is a way to treat cancer by using drugs to kill the abnormal cells that cause the disease. Cancer cells grow and divide quickly, flooding the blood and forming solid tumors in the body. Chemotherapy works by targeting these fast-growing cells.
However, it can also affect the healthy ones such as those found in our bone marrow, intestines, and hair (which is why patients undergoing chemotherapy often suffer from hair loss).
Undergoing chemotherapy is not easy. While it can be necessary to fight off or even eliminate cancer, tolerating the side effects caused by the treatment is a battle that patients face daily. Chemo patients experience different side effects, but the most common ones are fatigue, pain, hair loss, and nausea.
Through continuing research and development, chemotherapy today is a bit more bearable than it was a few years ago. Unfortunately, patients still experience side effects.
Don’t Hesitate to Ask Questions about the Treatment
Let’s face it: Hearing your doctor suggest chemotherapy as an option can be stressful. Many of us have seen movies and TV shows about how chemotherapy affects patients — looking tired all the time and losing their hair. It’s scary and confusing, especially if we’re not well informed.
Don’t be afraid to ask your doctor as many questions about the treatment as you’d like. Knowing more about how everything works and becoming more educated about chemo can help alleviate the tension and stress that you might experience.
We’ve come up with 5 questions below that you can ask your doctor regarding chemotherapy.
1. Is chemotherapy the best choice for my condition?
Your doctor most likely wouldn’t suggest chemotherapy if it wasn’t necessary, but it helps to hear them reaffirm it. Ask them for other possible treatment options or if chemotherapy is the best way to fight off your type of cancer. Ask also if they’ll be combining chemotherapy with other treatments, such as radiation or surgery.
2. How can I expect to feel after the treatment?
Ask your doctor how you should expect to feel after a few sessions of chemo treatment. Clarify the common side effects or when you should consider something as unusual or severe. It will help you manage your expectations, and you wouldn’t be surprised if you start experiencing the side effects of chemotherapy later on.
3. How long should I expect to undergo chemo?
Clarify the goal of the treatment and how long you are expected to go through it. Ask questions regarding how the effects will be evaluated and how your body will likely respond to the treatment. You wouldn’t want to undergo chemotherapy for more than a few months and see that it was having little to no effect at all!
4. Are there any activities that I should avoid?
Confirm if any activities aren’t allowed or discouraged when you undergo chemo. Confirm from your doctor the specifics on how the treatment will affect your lifestyle or your daily activities.
5. Can someone go with me during a chemo session?
Ask if someone can be with you while the drug is being administered to you. Having someone you are close to can be comforting and help relieve the stress that you might experience during a chemo session.
Some Breast Cancer Patients Can’t Afford Chemo Or Other Treatments
It’s stressful, hard for our bodies, but often advised by doctors to be necessary to fight back against the deadly disease that is cancer. Unfortunately, uninsured and underprivileged breast cancer patients are unable to afford the high cost of treatment that they require. They struggle in looking for support that they desperately need in their battle against breast cancer.
You can do something that can help save their lives — and it’s not that difficult and would even be beneficial to you. All you have to do is donate a car or any other type of vehicle that you no longer need or want to us at Breast Cancer Car Donations.
We’ll auction off your old vehicle to support our IRS-certified 501(c)3 non-profit partners. These nonprofits have programs and services that provide their beneficiaries with easy access to medical facilities so they can undergo full treatment. They also offer free breast cancer screening as well as other breast cancer prevention and education services.
We offer the easiest way to get rid of an unwanted vehicle. Furthermore, you’ll get a boatload of rewards back! You won’t need to worry about your car’s pick-up or towing since we will take care of that for you wherever you are located in the country — and you won’t need to spend a single dime for this!
Also, your donation will entitle you to claim a hefty tax deduction in the next tax season.
To know more about our vehicle donation process, visit our FAQs page. You can also give us a call at 866-540-5069 or leave us a message online if you have any inquiries or concerns.
Help Save Lives Today
Make a vehicle contribution to us at Breast Cancer Car Donations and be a hero to those who cannot afford the high cost of breast cancer treatment. Give us a call at 866-540-5069 or fill out our online donation form now!