Very often we tend to ignore the information about the many treatments of cancer unless there comes a time when we have to pay attention to it. Unless we are fascinated with reading medical journals we hardly bother to know more about the problems or the solutions or the symptoms of cancer. This is what happened to one of my closest pals as well.



My friend is a clinical nurse who has specialization in geriatric nursing. She has an incredible knowledge of medical matters. Surprisingly however she was totally ignorant of any information about cancer or of the latest treatments of the disease. That was until she was reported to be suffering from invasive cervical adinocarcinoma. We were both in the dark about cancer and were aware of only the harmful side effects of chemotherapy and the radiation. Now we know much more than we knew at that point of time. I would give you here one of the treatments of cancer that she underwent.

After Vaness was diagnosed with cancer, she was immediately operated upon. She underwent a radical hysterectomy that removed the harmful growths that were spreading the disease to her lymph nodes. After that she was taken for a PET scan which is a Positron Emission Tomography test that is done to know what would be the further course of treatment. The scan showed that the cancer had hit her lymph nodes; it reached up to her lungs and downward to the vaginal region. One of the reputed surgeons suggested her not to follow the standard procedure of the treatment of cancer and to extricate the malignant lymph nodes (all the lymph nodes cannot be extricated as these aids in secretion and are necessary for the running of our system). She got a lot of suggestions but she followed the surgeon's advice and two months later underwent surgery for the second time.

This was followed by the radiation and chemotherapy sessions. The doctor at first explained to her clearly about these two methods and also showed with the help of statistics the chances of the occurrence of a side effect. It opened our eyes. We realized that the rate of not having control over our bowels or losing hair was very low. We also learnt how most of the symptoms were actually psychogenic, that these were brought on to us by our own thinking and had nothing to do with the effects of the chemo and the radiation therapy.

Yesterday (approximately two months after initial diagnosis), Vaness, who had had an oncology nurse come to the house to administer an IV that runs the course of one side of the body-through the heart, etc.-was sent to the pharmacy for two medications. Glutamine is thought to boost the immune system with vitamins that help keep her strong; and Compazine, an anti-emetic, is used to combat the nausea brought on by the Amaphostine injection(s).

Today, at 9 a. m., Vaness went in for her first treatment of cancer. She will take chemo, then, on day 1 (for four days in a row), day 29, then weekly. At the same time, she will take palliative radiation treatments five days a week for ten weeks. Palliative radiation relieves symptoms and "improves" quality of life, but does not cureas there is no "cure".

The two treatments together can be used for a total of ten weeks. After that it would not be used as these will not cure the cancer and instead might kill her. The irony is in the fact that while the treatment is strong enough to counter the disease, it is also strong enough to kill the patient. There is however a percentage who with the help of the doctors, their friends and their own mind have miraculous recoveries and they actually survive to tell the tale. What is heartening is that this percentage of survivors is growing with each passing year.