Chemotherapy

Do you need chemotherapy? Please read this information

We want to help you make the right decisions on which your health and life will depend, tell you what and how should happen during chemotherapy treatment, so that you are familiarized, and no one can take advantage of your confusion or despair.

So, you should know that:

• Cancer diagnosis cannot be made without morphological examination. Even the best doctors, modern equipment cannot give a final answer about the nature of the tumor until a piece, a fragment (biopsy) is taken from it, and a pathologist under a microscope has not studied its structure and has not decided whether it is a malignant formation or not. And if we usually want the doctor to be confident in his actions, diagnoses, and prescriptions, then the pathologist, on the contrary, must “doubt” and receive confirmation of his diagnosis from another doctor, the so-called “second opinion”. You have every right to take your biopsy materials (this is called paraffin blocks and slides) and give them to another hospital for a second opinion if your doctor has not provided this.
• In no case can chemotherapeutic treatment be prescribed if there is no morphological conclusion about the nature of the tumor, its type. At the modern level of development of medicine, a significant part of oncological diagnoses requires additional studies (immunohistochemical, genetic), which allow not only confirming the oncological diagnosis, but also making significant clarifications into it, which play a significant and sometimes decisive role in the choice of treatment tactics. and determine the sensitivity of the tumor to a specific chemotherapy. Do not hesitate to ask your doctor if there is a morphological confirmation of your diagnosis, and whether all possible clarifying studies regarding the characteristics of the neoplasm have been performed. Not a single best doctor can know which drugs should be prescribed if there is no morphological conclusion. If your doctor "knows" - run away from him as quickly as possible.
• No doctor other than a chemotherapist is allowed to prescribe chemotherapy treatment. Chemotherapy is an extremely complex branch of medical science that requires knowledge of modern approaches in oncological practice, treatment protocols for each individual tumor, that is, it is a separate and very fundamental science. If your doctor is a surgeon, gynecologist, therapist suggest you prescribe chemotherapy - "something is wrong here." Look exclusively for a specialist chemotherapist!
• Most chemotherapy drugs are given intravenously. But almost all of these drugs are very aggressive to peripheral vessels. As the patients themselves say, "the veins are burning." Phlebitis, thrombosis occur very quickly, and there is still a threat of the drug getting under the skin, which causes tissue necrosis. That is why in recent years in developed countries, special systems of long-term central vascular access, the so-called "ports", have been used, which prevent the occurrence of all the described complications, and also make it possible to connect special devices that allow a person to receive drip administration of drugs without being in a hospital , go to work or just be at home. These devices are called mechanical pumps, they can be in the patient's pocket for a day or more, and you must return to the hospital at the scheduled time to remove or connect the next dose of medication. Ask your doctor if your treatment will be long and, if so, if you need to install a "port" and if you can use a "pump". If your doctor does not know anything about this, or says that they all drip into peripheral vessels, you should look for a more knowledgeable doctor!
• Most chemotherapy drugs are injected very slowly, and it is very clearly calculated how much ml should enter the vessels in a specific period of time. There are special devices for such precise dosage administration. These are called "infusomats" or liquid dosing systems. Ask if the hospital you went to has such devices. If you are told that the nurses who work in them are so professional that they "by eye" determine the rate of drug administration using a conventional dropper, you should look for a hospital where modern technical advances are still preferred.

We sincerely wish you, at a difficult moment in your life, to meet exclusively professionals who will unite with you, your family and friends for the sake of victory over the disease!