My friend is starting kemo therapy soon, what specifically is kemo therapy and what will happen to him?

Question

He is 15 and he is starting Tuesday. He has already had the tumor removed and had some sort of pump surgically placed in his chest. I'm not sure how to comfort him either...

Answer 1

Some people in the forum without knowing the subject try to answer and give wrong guidance which confuse the patients further. For example the person nick-named "?" (first answer) has told something not real - has said Kemo is radiation. Such persons should answer only the known subject questions and should not confuse the affected person. You also should not be carried away by such answers.
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I am giving below what is Chemotherapy and what will happen (side effects) after the therapy, It is only the actual and general facts. It is better you consult your doctor and he is the only person can give you the exact extent of disease, its stage, grade, dosage of medicine and the ways go come out successfully from side effect etc.

Chemotherapy is the type of treatment given for cancer by injecting chemical substances. This is one type of treatement given for cancer. In its modern-day use, it refers primarily to cytotoxic drugs used to treat cancer. Cancer is the uncontrolled growth of cells due to damage to DNA (mutations) and, occasionally, due to an inherited propensity to develop certain tumours. Autoimmune diseases arise from an overactive immune response of the body against substances and tissues normally present in the body - in other words, the body attacks its own cells. In contrast, transplant rejection happens because a normal healthy human immune system can distinguish foreign tissues and attempts to destroy them. Also the reverse situation, called graft-versus-host disease, may take place. Broadly, most chemotherapeutic drugs work by impairing mitosis (cell division), effectively targeting fast-dividing cells. As these drugs cause damage to cells they are termed cytotoxic. Some drugs cause cells to undergo apoptosis (so-called "cell suicide").
As chemotherapy affects cell division, tumors with high growth fractions (such as acute myelogenous leukemia and the lymphomas, including Hodgkin's disease) are more sensitive to chemotherapy, as a larger proportion of the targeted cells are undergoing cell division at any time.Chemotherapeutic drugs affect "younger" tumours (i.e. less differentiated) more effectively, because at a higher grade of differentiation, the propensity to growth usually decreases. Near the center of some solid tumours, cell division has effectively ceased, making them insensitive to chemotherapy. Another problem with solid tumours is the fact that the chemotherapeutic agent often does not reach the core of the tumour. Solutions to this problem include radiation therapy (both brachytherapy and teletherapy) and surgery.
Most chemotherapy is delivered intravenously, although there are a number of agents that can be administered orally (e.g. melphalan, busulfan,capecitabine). Depending on the patient, the cancer, the stage of cancer, the type of chemotherapy, and the dosage, intravenous chemotherapy may be given on either an inpatient or outpatient basis. For continuous, frequent or prolonged intravenous chemotherapy administration, various systems may be surgically inserted into the vasculature to maintain access
Combined modality chemotherapy is the use of drugs with other cancer treatments, such as radiation therapy or surgery. Most cancers are now treated in this way. Combination chemotherapy is a similar practice which involves treating a patient with a number of different drugs simultaneously. The drugs differ in their mechanism and side effects. The biggest advantage is minimising the chances of resistance developing to any one agent.
Side-effects
The treatment can be physically exhausting for the patient. Current chemotherapeutic techniques have a range of side effects mainly affecting the fast-dividing cells of the body. Important common side-effects include (dependent on the agent):
•Hair loss
•Nausea and vomiting
•Diarrhea or constipation
•Anemia
•Depression of the immune system hence (potentially lethal) infections and sepsis
•Hemorrhage
•Secondary neoplasms
•Cardiotoxicity
•Hepatotoxicity
•Nephrotoxicity
•stomach upset

Answer 2

Kemo Therapy

Answer 3

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
My friend is starting kemo therapy soon, what specifically is kemo therapy and what will happen to him?
He is 15 and he is starting Tuesday. He has already had the tumor removed and had some sort of pump surgically placed in his chest. I'm not sure how to comfort him either...

Answer 4

Kemo therapy is when they inject a person with something that helps kill the cancer cells. You visit him and let him know that care enought to be there. Don't make a big fuss about the whole thing, just treat him like anyone else who's had an operation. Talk to him about what's going on at school and things like you would talk about when he was well. Tell him that he will be OK, and that you miss him and will be glad when he get out and you and he can enjoy the things you used to do. If he is depressed try to cheer him up and tell him things will be all right and about thing you and he will do when he's better.

Answer 5

Actually Chemo is NOT Radiation therapy. It is man made chemicals that are put through the system in order to kill the cancer cells hiding inside the body. Now this will also kill any good cells so, for some time, his immunity towards fighting off a simple cold, may be compromised. Radiation is something completely different. There are some intravenous treatments that have radioactive isotopes in them but for the most part Chemo stands for Chemical. If you have any questions about any of this you can go on-line and goggle Chemo therapy treatments and this will give you a better understanding of what your friend is about to go through. I can only tell you what I went through and what my daughter went through during our treatments but when the radiation part of it came around it could never be confused with Chemo treatments.

Answer 6

Chemotherapy is NOT radiation therapy.

In chemotherapy you are injecting toxic chemical compounds which kill cells that divide fast. Since cancer cells are dividing, you kill a lot (hopefully all) of these cells. Unfortunately, hair cells are also dividing, so you often lose the hair, too. It's also common to throw up and have other annoying side effect of this treatment. It is a fairly harsh treatment, and it takes a day or more to recover.

Radiation therapy is a different treatment where you use ionizing radiation to kill the cells.

The best thing you can do for your friend it just to be there and listen. I don't think you need to say anything to comfort him. All you need to do is show him that you are there and talk about whatever is on his mind.

Best of luck.

Answer 7

It is called CHEMOTHERAPY (one word) and, in simple terms, is the use of chemicals to treat cancer. These chemicals are special drugs that are introduced into the patient's bloodstream, and flow throughout the entire body, fighting cancer anywhere they find it in the body.

The bad news is that chemotherapy kills normal, healthy cells in the body in addition to cancerous cells. This leads to some very unpleasant side effects that we can't do very much about. So it is the lesser of two evils - the patient will suffer from chemotherapy, but most likely would suffer more or even die from cancer. Although progress has been made, we still have a lot of research to do before alternative medicines can be used that keep these side effects to a minimum.

There are several excellent Web sites that can give you more details on chemo and how it works (one is www.cancer.com) But I feel the best way to offer comfort is simply to be there for him. Don't give him stupid lines like "I know how you feel", but spend time with him and let him lead the conversation. If he wants to talk about the pain, let him. If he doesn't, talk about something else. Offer empathy and support. Buy some balloons or a card for him. Try to be sensitive to his needs at the moment and give him what he needs at that time.

I'm glad you want to offer comfort - that ultimately is the best medicine of all! I offer both of you my blessings as you endure this together.

I hope this helps. Feel free to update me when you can, OK?

Answer 8

You can comfort your friend my just being there for him. Sometimes you don't even have to say anything. Just BE THERE for him.


Receiving a cancer diagnosis can be a shock, making you feel out of control and overwhelmed.

If you have been told that chemotherapy or radiation therapy is an important part of your treatment, unpleasant images may come to mind. But as you move beyond that initial shock to begin the journey of surviving your cancer, you have many good reasons to be optimistic. Medicine has made — and continues to make — great strides in treating cancer and in making cancer treatment more tolerable, both physically and emotionally.


Although your treatment may be eliminating cancer cells from your body, certain side effects may occur as a result of that treatment. You'll learn about the various side effects, including common, uncommon, and long term. You'll also receive information on how to best manage side effects and on when you should contact your doctor about adverse reactions to your treatment.

Answer 9

Depending on the kind of Chemo, there are different side effects. My husband had pancreatic cancer. His chemotherapy was given in a 'stent' in the chest as well. It's a circular device that allows for easy insertion of the needle to give the medicine. That way the nurses don't have to poke his arm veins all the time. His chemo made him nauseous and lose feeling in his fingers, toes, then legs. But there was no hair loss on his head or face (mustache was intact!) With some chemo treatments you lose all your hair. If that happens you can get your friend a cool baseball cap.
The best way to comfort him is to just be there. Be a friend. visit often. don't go away like cancer is contageous.
In my husbands case, the chemo was to extend life and give some more time to live.. be with our young sons, take a joyous vacation together... pancreas cancer is always 95% fatal. We appreciated the friends who'd come by and hang out and be positive, acknowledge that yes, this sucks, but offer to do anything we needed. Good luck to your friend AND to you, I pray for a good outcome,
peace.

Answer 10

Just be there for him! Chemotherapy is when they intravenously put specific chemicals into a person to help kill off any cancer cells that surgery may have missed. The effects can be rather nasty or none at all depending on the drugs used. Vomiting hair loss and diarrhoea and constipation can be some symptoms. It's not nice to watch but be prepared for anything and just be there there aren't any words to explain really because it can be traumatic for everyone involved.