Managing Chemotherapy Side Effects

Your doctor has chosen chemotherapy as an appropriate plan of attack for you. To prepare for the process, it's important that you learn as much as possible about the treatment so that you can make the most of it, and learn how to combat the side effects you may experience.

It would be ideal if health care professionals could treat only the areas where the cancer is present. Unfortunately, that's not always possible. Because healthy tissues also may be damaged during chemotherapy, treatment can cause some unpleasant side effects.

Such side effects vary from person to person, and may be different from one treatment to the next. The good news is that most side effects go away as soon as your treatment is over.

It works like this: Anticancer drugs - such as those used for chemotherapy - affect rapidly dividing cells. Cells in hair follicles and those that line the digestive tract, for example, are normal cells that divide quickly. This is why chemotherapy patients are prone to lose hair and experience nausea, vomiting, diarrhea or mouth sores.

Common Chemotherapy Side Effects

• nausea and vomiting
• hair loss
• diarrhea/constipation
• infections
• bleeding
• anemia
• fatigue
• pain

Reducing the Side Effects of Anemia

There are some things you can do to alleviate the side effects of anemia:

1. Rest. Sleep more at night and take naps during the day if you can.

2. Limit activities. Do only the things that are most important to you.

3. Ask for help. Don't be bashful about asking family and friends to pitch in with things like child care, shopping, housecleaning or driving.

4. Eat a well-balanced diet. While you are in the hospital or outpatient center, members of the food or nutrition service can help you plan your diet. Also, the Canadian Cancer Society publishes a guide called "Eating for the Good of Your Health". For a copy, call the Canadian Cancer Society Information Service toll free at 1-888-939-3333.

5. Move slowly. Remember to get up slowly when sitting or lying down. This helps avoid dizziness.

Be sure to read about how your fellow cancer survivors have dealt with these and other side effects in the "Cancer Survivors Talk About. . ." section of this website.