Chemo or No Chemo ?

peipei94

Hi ~ 

First of all I have to say please forgive for my bad english ( I'm vietnamese - chinese )

My mom was diagnosed with uterine cancer stage 3 , no lymph nodes affected . She had a total hysterectomy and this sunday she will have her first chemo round ( 3 rounds and 6 radiations )

Yesterday mom read a article about how chemo destroy your body and 2% gambit , she feel really upset and confusion , don't know what to do now but I don't know that article is trustworthy or not .

Does anyone here hear about it and maybe someone can give me advice, i'm really thankful.

Thank you .

derMaus

Hello Peipei,

Hello Peipei,

Chemo is not good for your body, but it's short-term pain for long-term gain. If your mom is Stage III (so am I), I urge her to you to continue with her treatment. This is a strong disease and you need strong medicine to cure it, or at least keep it contained. Best wishes to both you and your mom as you continue this process. This board is a great help to me and I'm sure you will fine much support from it. 

Kvdyson

Peipei94, I am so sorry to

Peipei94, I am so sorry to hear of your mom's diagnosis. Please know that her doctors would not recommend that treatment if they didn't believe that it was necessary to kill the cancer cells that may still be in her blood system and/or hiding in other organs. Yes, chemo does also kill some good cells but those are ones that can re-generate quickly (like hair cells, which is why she may lose her hair during treatment).

I had 6 rounds of VERY strong chemo and believe that it helped save my life. There are many, many articles and studies that you may want to offer to your mom about how chemo saves lives every day. Please also let her know that there are plenty of us who have been through chemo treatment and - although it was not fun and not without side effects - believe that it was worth it. 

peipei94

derMaus said:

Hello Peipei,

Hello Peipei,

Chemo is not good for your body, but it's short-term pain for long-term gain. If your mom is Stage III (so am I), I urge her to you to continue with her treatment. This is a strong disease and you need strong medicine to cure it, or at least keep it contained. Best wishes to both you and your mom as you continue this process. This board is a great help to me and I'm sure you will fine much support from it. 

Thank you

Thank you so much for your advice , I'm feeling better now

peipei94

Kvdyson said:

Peipei94, I am so sorry to

Peipei94, I am so sorry to hear of your mom's diagnosis. Please know that her doctors would not recommend that treatment if they didn't believe that it was necessary to kill the cancer cells that may still be in her blood system and/or hiding in other organs. Yes, chemo does also kill some good cells but those are ones that can re-generate quickly (like hair cells, which is why she may lose her hair during treatment).

I had 6 rounds of VERY strong chemo and believe that it helped save my life. There are many, many articles and studies that you may want to offer to your mom about how chemo saves lives every day. Please also let her know that there are plenty of us who have been through chemo treatment and - although it was not fun and not without side effects - believe that it was worth it. 

Thank you

Thank you for your advice , I was in Taiwan for study when my mom was diagnosed and I'm feel sad about it 

May I ask when you had chemo , you eat or use what kind of food/medicine to protect your immune system and body ? 

Thank you

Hma4

Peipei

I agree with everyone above, chemo I feel saved my life as well I am 53 and was also a stage 3 uterine Adenocarcinoma cancer. Side effects are different for everyone, I feel fortunate to have had very mild effects. Me being me did not change my diet the main food I was told to stay away from was grapefruit because of the acidity of it. I had my gallbladder out 3 weeks before my hysterectomy so not sure if my treatments or combination of both affected my stomach issues, but Imodium helps when needed. My diagnoses and treatments went from June 2016- Dec2016. I have follow up visits every 3 months. It's scary, but we are stronger than we think. No one fights alone. i have found much support here- not always commenting, but always reading. They should go over all the does and donts of medications and foods with your mom, before treatment begins. Hope to hear from you soon.

pinky104

Foods to eat

My doctor recommended I eat a lot of protein.  Your mother would be wise to avoid sugar, as studies have shown that cancer feeds on sugar.  Also, tell her to google the dirty dozen list.  It shows the foods that are most contaminated with pesticides, etc.  She should avoid the foods on that list or buy organic foods as much as possible.  The list changes every year.  Foods that you would think are healthy, like strawberries, are usually on it.  They're the ones that you can't even wash the pesticides off no matter how hard you try.

Kvdyson

peipei94 said:

Thank you

Thank you for your advice , I was in Taiwan for study when my mom was diagnosed and I'm feel sad about it 

May I ask when you had chemo , you eat or use what kind of food/medicine to protect your immune system and body ? 

Thank you

The best advice I received

The best advice I received about chemo treatment was 1) stay hydrated - if you feel thirsty, you're already dehydrated, 2) keep moving - even if it's only a few steps - do it, 3) eat high protein meals - your body needs the protein to recover properly, 4) take Miralax during chemo, it helps keep you regular and 5) stay hopeful - you can't control much about what is happening to your body but you can control how you react to it. 

I hope this advice is also helpful for your mother. Keep us posted on how she is doing.