1. Not everybody feels lousy.
2. There’s a beginning and end to it. The hardest part is usually getting through the middle. Think of a bell curve.
3. Chances are you know someone on it, even if they don’t talk about it. Chemo isn’t just for cancer, it’s also for multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, and for anyone who has had an organ transplant.
4. Not everybody gets the same side effects.
5. Some people don’t get any side effects. A lot of people do, but some don’t.
6. There are meds to keep the chemo meds from making you feel sicker. A whole industry exists to keep patients from throwing up or sleeping all day
7. Some people will die during chemo treatment. It’s not a magic bullet.
8. Knowing the names of the drugs you take can be helpful, especially if you move or travel a lot.
9. Chemotherapy, in general, is expensive.
10. Thankfully, it’s nowhere near as awful as we imagine. It’s not the end of the world, it’s the treatment designed to keep that from happening.
Elaine Jesmer is the author of I’m Hot!…and I’m Bald: CHEMOTHERAPY FOR WINNERS available at Amazon and Kindle.
Contact Elaine at http://www.elainejesmer.com/ and sign up for her “Chemotalk” newsletter at http://www.chemotalk.com/
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