Very often we tend to ignore the information about the many treatments of cancer unless there comes a time when we have to pay attention to it. Unless we are fascinated with reading medical journals we hardly bother to know more about the problems or the solutions or the symptoms of cancer. This is what happened to one of my closest pals as well.
She is a clinical nurse with specialization in Geriatric Nursing. She is well equipped about all aspects of medical knowledge as well as other types of knowledge. Surprisingly however she was not aware of cancer and the latest treatments that are available unless she was diagnosed as suffering from invasive cervical adinocarcinoma. We were both unaware of cancer and only had knowledge about the side effects that comes with chemotherapy and radiation techniques. Now of course we know much more than we knew at that point of time. She now goes for her treatments and I would here tell you the process of the treatment of cancer that she underwent.
Vaness was diagnosed in December of 2005. Immediately, they took her in for surgery: to remove the offending growths, which were malignant and threatening to spread to her lymph nodes, surgeons performed a radical hysterectomy. Next she went in for a PET scan. A PET scan is a Positron Emission Tomography test done to verify the diagnoses and to enable further consideration of treatment for cancer. The PET and other tests revealed the cancer was in her lymph nodes, reaching as far up as the lungs and extending down to her vaginal area. A reputable surgeon, knowing of her case, which is in the 1 to 10 percentile of cases, called Vaness, suggesting she blow off the standard treatment for cancer and get the affected lymph nodes removed. (We cannot have all of our lymph nodes removed, as they run our endocrine, secretion, and waste and other systems.) Though she was now getting opposing suggestions/recommendations, she opted for the latter: on Valentine's Day, she had a second surgery.
This was followed by the radiation and chemotherapy sessions. The doctor at first explained to her clearly about these two methods and also showed with the help of statistics the chances of the occurrence of a side effect. It opened our eyes. We realized that the rate of not having control over our bowels or losing hair was very low. We also learnt how most of the symptoms were actually psychogenic, that these were brought on to us by our own thinking and had nothing to do with the effects of the chemo and the radiation therapy.
Yesterday (approximately two months after initial diagnosis), Vaness, who had had an oncology nurse come to the house to administer an IV that runs the course of one side of the body-through the heart, etc.-was sent to the pharmacy for two medications. Glutamine is thought to boost the immune system with vitamins that help keep her strong; and Compazine, an anti-emetic, is used to combat the nausea brought on by the Amaphostine injection(s).
After a few days Vaness went for her very first treatment of the disease. She had to undergo chemo for a few days in a row and then on a weekly basis. The Palliative radiation therapy took care of the symptoms and also brought about an improvement in the quality of life but it however did not cure, there has never been a cure for cancer.
The two treatments together can be used for a total of ten weeks. After that it would not be used as these will not cure the cancer and instead might kill her. The irony is in the fact that while the treatment is strong enough to counter the disease, it is also strong enough to kill the patient. There is however a percentage who with the help of the doctors, their friends and their own mind have miraculous recoveries and they actually survive to tell the tale. What is heartening is that this percentage of survivors is growing with each passing year. - 15252
She is a clinical nurse with specialization in Geriatric Nursing. She is well equipped about all aspects of medical knowledge as well as other types of knowledge. Surprisingly however she was not aware of cancer and the latest treatments that are available unless she was diagnosed as suffering from invasive cervical adinocarcinoma. We were both unaware of cancer and only had knowledge about the side effects that comes with chemotherapy and radiation techniques. Now of course we know much more than we knew at that point of time. She now goes for her treatments and I would here tell you the process of the treatment of cancer that she underwent.
Vaness was diagnosed in December of 2005. Immediately, they took her in for surgery: to remove the offending growths, which were malignant and threatening to spread to her lymph nodes, surgeons performed a radical hysterectomy. Next she went in for a PET scan. A PET scan is a Positron Emission Tomography test done to verify the diagnoses and to enable further consideration of treatment for cancer. The PET and other tests revealed the cancer was in her lymph nodes, reaching as far up as the lungs and extending down to her vaginal area. A reputable surgeon, knowing of her case, which is in the 1 to 10 percentile of cases, called Vaness, suggesting she blow off the standard treatment for cancer and get the affected lymph nodes removed. (We cannot have all of our lymph nodes removed, as they run our endocrine, secretion, and waste and other systems.) Though she was now getting opposing suggestions/recommendations, she opted for the latter: on Valentine's Day, she had a second surgery.
This was followed by the radiation and chemotherapy sessions. The doctor at first explained to her clearly about these two methods and also showed with the help of statistics the chances of the occurrence of a side effect. It opened our eyes. We realized that the rate of not having control over our bowels or losing hair was very low. We also learnt how most of the symptoms were actually psychogenic, that these were brought on to us by our own thinking and had nothing to do with the effects of the chemo and the radiation therapy.
Yesterday (approximately two months after initial diagnosis), Vaness, who had had an oncology nurse come to the house to administer an IV that runs the course of one side of the body-through the heart, etc.-was sent to the pharmacy for two medications. Glutamine is thought to boost the immune system with vitamins that help keep her strong; and Compazine, an anti-emetic, is used to combat the nausea brought on by the Amaphostine injection(s).
After a few days Vaness went for her very first treatment of the disease. She had to undergo chemo for a few days in a row and then on a weekly basis. The Palliative radiation therapy took care of the symptoms and also brought about an improvement in the quality of life but it however did not cure, there has never been a cure for cancer.
The two treatments together can be used for a total of ten weeks. After that it would not be used as these will not cure the cancer and instead might kill her. The irony is in the fact that while the treatment is strong enough to counter the disease, it is also strong enough to kill the patient. There is however a percentage who with the help of the doctors, their friends and their own mind have miraculous recoveries and they actually survive to tell the tale. What is heartening is that this percentage of survivors is growing with each passing year. - 15252
About the Author:
Dane Masters is an accomplished niche website author. to learn more about skin cancer charts graphs, please visit Prevent Skin Cancer for current articles and discussions.