If you’re beginning treatment for a blood disorder, you’ll find some of this information relevant, but you should ask your physician and treatment team to answer any questions you have. In this section we’ll be talking mostly about cancer treatment.
If you’re a cancer patient, at this stage both you and your doctor will know the specifics of your cancer and have agreed upon a detailed treatment plan. This plan will likely consist of some combination of surgery, radiation therapy and chemotherapy.
If your personal treatment plan calls for surgery, you will be referred to a surgeon. Most likely you’ll return to OHOA afterwards for ongoing radiation therapy or chemotherapy to help ensure that all the cancer cells have been eliminated.
Radiation therapy can keep cancer cells from growing and dividing through the use of high-energy waves (like X rays, only much stronger). This common treatment helps to shrink tumors either before surgery, after surgery, or sometimes even in place of surgery.
Since OHOA does not have radiation therapy facilities on-site, your physician will recommend a facility and a radiation oncologist for that phase of your treatment. Radiation oncologists and their technicians are specialists in radiation therapy procedures. The OHOA team will coordinate all treatments with the radiation therapist and monitor your progress through regular check-ups.
Normally, your first visits to the radiation therapy center will be your longest, since the radiation oncologist and technicians will need to map out the places on your body that will require treatment. Specifically, two or three appointments may be necessary to collect information, plan and simulate the required treatment regime. Subsequent treatments should only take a few minutes each time, several times a week (the number of weeks varies by patient and by treatment plan).
Chemotherapy uses one or more drugs to kill cancer cells. There are many different chemotherapy drugs that can work together in many combinations. Your physician will decide on the best combination for your particular form of cancer. With recent advances, most chemotherapy drugs can be given intravenously on an outpatient basis. In some cases they can even be given orally.
On
the day of your first chemotherapy treatment, you will see your physician
or nurse practitioner for a brief examination and to ask any questions you may have. If drugs are
to be administered intravenously, baseline blood tests may be done, an IV
will be started and your first intravenous treatment will begin. Depending
on your treatment details and other physical issues, your physician may recommend
a temporary implanted port or catheter for easy intravenous access.
Your chemotherapy treatment will take place in a large, comfortable room furnished with recliners. A family member or friend is welcome to stay with you during your treatment, if there is room. Please ask someone at OHOA if you have questions about guests. It’s best that you not bring any children due to safety concerns and patients with compromised immune systems. We also recommend not wearing any cologne or perfume, since chemotherapy patients are often sensitive to odors.
The average treatment time is anywhere between two to four hours, so you may want to bring something to occupy yourself. Feel free to bring your own favorite electronic entertainment, such as a tape or CD player, or perhaps a portable DVD player--anything that uses headphones. Many patients read or sleep during their treatments. Others visit with people in the treatment room. In fact, many patients develop lasting friendships with the people they meet in the treatment center.
If you will be getting treatment during lunch, you may want to bring either a sack lunch or have a family member buy something for you at a nearby restaurant. Specially trained oncology nurses staff the treatment center, and either a physician or a nurse practitioner will also be available to answer any questions you have.
You may experience some pain or side effects during your treatments. Your OHOA team will do everything possible to provide the necessary medication or techniques to deal with this possibility. One common concern is nausea. Due to the abundance of exceptional anti-nausea medications, there is no reason to feel excessively nauseous at any point during your treatment. We are dedicated to helping you in whatever way we can to make your treatment experience as pleasant as possible.
Your OHOA team will be intimately following your treatment progress. You
will have every opportunity to ask questions and will always be informed
about the resources you can use to understand what is going on throughout
the course of your treatment.
