Every year in the UK nearly 200,000 people discover they have cancer. Overall, about one in three of us can expect to develop cancer at some time during our lives. The good news to set against these depressing figures, though, is that over the last 30 years the outlook for people with most types of cancer has greatly improved. Complete cures are now possible for many cancers; and even when the condition is incurable, treatment can often offer many years of good-quality life before the illness reaches its terminal stage.
Chemotherapy plays a major part in cancer treatment, and has transformed the outlook for many types of cancer over the last few decades. Very often, cures are now possible that could never have been imagined in the 1950s and 1960s. These days at least half of all people who are diagnosed with cancer are likely to have some form of chemotherapy, at some time, during their illness.
Although it has led to a big rise in the number of people being permanently cured, and considerable increases in life expectancy for many other people where cure was not possible, chemotherapy is still a word that usually causes great anxiety and distress when it is first mentioned as being part of someone's treatment. To most people it means months of upsetting side effects, with a devastating impact on their day-to-day lives. But although it can be very traumatic and disruptive, many people find that when they actually get started on treatment it is not nearly as bad as they had expected, and they are able to cope with it remarkably well. Very often the reality of chemotherapy is far less unpleasant than people imagine.
Much of the fear about chemotherapy comes from not really knowing what to expect, or what will happen, or what to do when things do happen. These days, if you are going to have chemotherapy, you are likely to be given lots of information about your treatment. But often this is passed on verbally by doctors or nurses in busy clinics where it is difficult to take in, and it can also be hard to ask questions if there are things you don't understand. Even if you are given leaflets or booklets to back up what has been said at the hospital, these may only cover some aspects of your treatment, or be written in a way that is difficult to make sense of — or you may feel it just doesn't apply to you.
The aim of this book is to try to fill in the background about what chemotherapy is, what it does, and how to carry on with life during, and after, your treatment. As the book is designed to cover the whole subject, only bits of it are likely to apply to your own situation, so it is probably something you will find more helpful to dip into and out of, rather than to read from cover to cover. It is not intended to replace information that you may be given at hospital, but to be used alongside it — perhaps to fill in some gaps, or to give additional reassurance, or help you understand things by having them explained in a slightly different way.
Many people say that being aware of what is going on, understanding what to expect, and knowing what to do when and if problems crop up, makes coping with their treatment much easier. Being informed can greatly reduce the anxieties and uncertainties of chemotherapy, and can give you more control over what is happening to you.
Body Systems
