chemotherapy questions?

[Jessica C]

hey, i have a few questions about chemotherapy treatment.

Does it make you sick, like when your getting the treatments, or after?
How often do you start losing your hair?
Does it affect any other parts of your body?
How long does each treatment last?
Does it hurt?
How exactly does it work? Like what do they do?


Thanks a bunch in advance for answering.

[tinmuning]

1. Chemotherapy, like other drugs, do have side effects. Please follow this link for the side effects associated with this regimen: [url=http://www.cancerbackup.org.uk/Treatments/Chemotherapy/Sideeffects/Possibleside-effects]Possible side effects of some chemotherapy drugs : Cancerbackup[/url]

2. Not all chemotherapy patients lose their hair, though for patient who did, it usually occur around 2 weeks after treatment.

3. Since chemotherapy drugs are delivered orally or via the bloodstream, it reach other parts of the body, hence affecting other body parts as well.

4. The length of chemotherapy treatment is determined by a variety of factors. These include the type of cancer, the extent of cancer, the types of drugs that are given, as well as the expected toxicities of the drugs and the amount of time necessary to recover from these toxicities. Chemotherapy treatment may be a single drug or a combination of drugs. The drugs may all be given on a single day, several consecutive days, or continuously as an outpatient or as an inpatient. Treatment could last minutes, hours, or days, depending on the specific protocol.

5. Oral regimen won't hurt. If your getting chemo via IV, then the only pain you should feel during an intravenous (IV) chemotherapy session is discomfort from the needle stick that delivers the medication to the bloodstream though a catheter.

6. More information on how chemotherapy works is there in the link that I gave you. Just browse on the site you want to learn more.

[Jessica C]

I really appreciate your informative and thorough replies. Thank you very much.