Do you know what chemotherapy is? Normal cells all divide and multiply in a certain pattern. Cancer cells divide out of control, multiply rapidly and form lumps. Chemotherapy drugs can destroy the division and reproduction of cancer cells themselves, causing them to be damaged and eventually die. Chemotherapy can shrink tumors, reduce symptoms, and prolong life span. Depending on the type of cancer and the drugs used, chemotherapy can be administered in various ways. 1.Intravenous injection Chemotherapy drugs are most commonly administered intravenously. Each injection can take a few minutes or even a few hours or days. The method is to place an indwelling needle into a vein and use an infusion set to deliver the drug into the body. The tools used include: ☆ Peripheral IV placement: The needle is placed into the vein, the needle is withdrawn, and the tube is left in the vein on the back of the hand or forearm, and then removed after the chemotherapy drug infusion is complete and the vein is fully flushed. ☆ Central venous catheter (CVC): A central venous catheter is placed into the subclavian vein and fixed, and is not removed after drug administration, and is retained until the entire course of treatment is completed. This avoids the need to perform peripheral venipuncture each time and also protects the veins in the arm. ☆ Peripheral vein central placement (PICC): The PICC catheter is delivered into the central vein through the elbow fossa vein. It is also properly fixed, not removed after medication and retained until the entire course of treatment is completed. This avoids the need for peripheral venipuncture each time and also protects the veins in the arm. 2. Portable chemotherapy pump at home Some patients inject their own chemotherapy drugs at home using a portable chemotherapy pump. The chemotherapy pump is usually placed on a central venous catheter. The chemotherapy pump can be carried in your shirt pocket. Your health care provider will teach you how to observe and care for the chemotherapy pump and tell you what to expect. After treatment is complete, ask a professional to remove the chemotherapy pump. Other chemotherapy methods include: intramuscular injection, oral administration, injection into the spinal fluid, arteries, chest and abdomen, or even directly into the tumor site. How does the doctor make your chemotherapy plan? Your doctor will consider the type of cancer, the location, the extent of the spread, your age and health condition when planning your treatment plan. ● What are the adverse effects of chemotherapy Chemotherapy produces different degrees of reactions in different people, such as: nausea and vomiting, hair loss, bone marrow suppression (decreased white blood cells, decreased platelets), fever, stomatitis, diarrhea and constipation, phlebitis (redness, pain, increased brittleness of blood vessels). Almost all side effects are temporary and go away automatically when chemotherapy is stopped. Chemotherapy does not affect the health of the person visiting the patient, so it is still possible to visit the patient while receiving treatment. Patients are more susceptible to infection when receiving chemotherapy. If a visitor has a fever or a cold, he or she should consult with the medical staff first and wear a mask to prevent the spread of the disease. Does chemotherapy cause pain? Generally chemotherapy is painless, but you may feel a burning sensation during intravenous infusion of some drugs. If this happens, tell your healthcare provider immediately because when the drug leaks it can damage the tissue around the vein and needs to be treated immediately. However, individual drugs can cause pain in the joints and muscles after administration Chemotherapy can often be administered on an outpatient basis, and patients may not need to stay overnight in the hospital. The main function of chemotherapy is to kill cancer cells, but at the same time, it can affect normal cells and cause side effects. Side effects may occur during the first few weeks of chemotherapy. However, most of the side effects will disappear gradually. Side effects are not necessarily related to the success of treatment. In other words, the absence of side effects does not equate to successful treatment, and successful treatment does not necessarily avoid side effects. Therefore, it is important to ask your treating physician before receiving treatment what side effects there will be and which of them need to be notified to your health care provider. ☆ When receiving treatment, it is best to keep a daily record of which side effects occur and how you cope with them, and to tell the health care provider. If the side effects are significant, you must discuss with your doctor and consider whether to suspend chemotherapy or even switch to another treatment. ☆ If you plan to use other drugs at the same time, such as traditional Chinese medicine or folk remedies, you must tell your doctor in charge to avoid conflicts with chemotherapy drugs that may affect the effectiveness of the treatment. ☆ The nature and extent of side effects vary from person to person, some people have no side effects at all, but others are more severe. It is difficult to generalize because side effects vary greatly depending on the drug and the course of treatment. However, patients are more susceptible to infection when receiving chemotherapy. If you have fever or cold symptoms, it is recommended that you consult your healthcare provider first and wear a mask to prevent the spread of the disease to the patient.