by Phyllis Parker
Abreast A River Team Member

Dragon Tales by Phyllis Parker Abreast A River Team Member

Dr. Robert Buckman said cancer is "probably the scariest word in the English language".There is one other that strikes fear --- chemotherapy. Many people fear it because they know very little about it, recall "horror stories" about its' use and don't know the positive information.

Chemotherapy is a marvellous tool used to combat cancer. The first chemotherapy drug was a variant of mustard gas (used against soldiers in World War 1). The variant was discovered to be dramatically effective in advanced cases of untreatable Hodgkin's Disease ( a cancer called lymphoma).

Since those early days chemotherapy research has never stopped. Dr. Buckman describes the past 10 years as both exciting and promising. He says today's chemotherapy can be compared to the "smart bombs" used by the armed forces. Doctors used to have " trouble hitting the barn" and today they " go in through a window". What he is saying is that chemotherapy is more precise, accurate, and effective than it used to be.

Chemotherapy drugs - and there are a great variety - kill cells that are growing and multiplying actively. Since cancer cells do this chemotherapy drugs can be used against them.

Herein lies one of the main problems with chemotherapy treatment. The drugs may also cause a problem for ANY actively growing cells within the body. These are hair, skin, nails, bone marrow, mouth and gastrointestinal tract.

Problems do not automatically happen to everyone who has chemotherapy. Many new drugs or therapies counteract some of the above problems. Dosage of chemotherapy is always well controlled-----tailor made of each patient. Today's patients are well informed and monitored.

During a course of chemotherapy a patient's feelings will vary. When Dr. Marla Shapiro was working her way through breast cancer she wrote " the rhythm of my life has been defined by acticipated side effects, the climb back to feeling well, only to repeat the cycle again". She felt angry but came to realize she had to let the anger go.

One breast cancer survivor viewed her chemo as " my own private army going in there to attack the enemy". After that she felt only "relief" during each chemo session.

Note: Dr. Robert Buckman currently works at the Princess Margaret Hospital, Toronto Dr. Marla Shapiro is medical consultant for CTV News and Associate Professor University of Toronto

For further information on cancer call the Canadian Cancer Society Information Line at 1-888-939-3333