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There is perhaps no greater defense against cancerous cells (beyond the early detection of them) than chemotherapy. This revolutionary process – began in 1940 as an experiment in curiosity – enables individuals to find hope among the panic. Offering the most powerful medications available, it attacks the disease and wishes to brand it futile. The results are often remarkable and the future seems encouraging. While this is not a cure, it is a potential one; and all who suffer an illness seek its comforts.
Those comforts are not without their costs, however. The use of chemotherapy within the field of Oncology is common (even deemed a necessity), but there are concerns with the precision this practice demands. The concentrations of medicine that individuals must receive is potent. Miscalculating a dosage could lead to devastating effects: whether through a tumor becoming unresponsive or toxicity accumulating within the body. And these possibilities must be understood by any patient. They could result in a terrible aftermath, unable to ease pain or reduce cancer.
Chemotherapy is not a simple procedure. There is no specified dosage that can be given to every individual. It must instead be assumed from person to person – with elements like weight, height and the progress of a disease taken into consideration. Because of this lacking methodology, Oncologists are forced to rely on formulas and good sense to judge each case. While their understanding of doses is more than competent, there can still be occasional errors. You must be aware of this.
Should too little medication be offered, tumors may simply continue to grow; undeterred by the attempts of such meager pills. Should too much be given, however, a body can become immune to it – with doses having to reach dangerous heights to have any effect.
And, because of this, chemotherapy must be administered by those who best understand it – and those who can provide the care it requires.
