Options to Battle the Side Effects of Chemotherapy Cancer Treatment

Chemotherapy and radiation treatment often times leave cancer patients with side-effects that severely impact various aspects of their quality of life. In this post, we'll touch upon some of the dietary, physical and social options available to battle the side-effects induced by chemotherapy or radiation therapy treatment.

Dietary Side Effects

Loss in appetite is a common side-effect experienced by patients who undergo chemotherapy. This loss in appetite results in a decreased protein and nutrient intake making the patient's road to recovery more difficult. According to the National Cancer Institute, cancer patients complain that certain foods like meat may be bitter or taste metallic. A patient's sense of smell may also be affected due to chemo treatment attacking healthy cells as well as diseased cells. Usually, these changes in sense of taste or smell will return to normal once treatment ends.

With the body already in a weakened state, caregivers will need to make sure patients not only eat their meals but also eat the "right" types of foods. A few recommended ways to combat the change in sense of taste or smell by the National Cancer Institute are the following:

Choose foods that look and smell goodMarinate foods with fruit juices, wine, salad dressing and other spicesTry tart foods and drinksMake foods sweeterEat with plastic utensils rather than metal onesDiscuss meal and options with a dietician

To battle appetite loss, other suggested methods include:

Eat smaller meals, but more frequentlyDrink liquids throughout the dayDrink a liquid or powdered replacementHave easy-to-carry snacks readily available

Eating and getting the necessary amount of nutrition is extremely important for patients during the recovery and healing process.

Physical Side Effects

As part of chemo and radiation treatment therapy, most patients experience side-effects which affect their physical appearance, leaving them feeling depressed. Common physical side-effects include discolored or burnt skin, loss of eyebrows, hair follicles and acne. Fortunately, organizations like Look Good...Feel Better, a 501c3 non-profit organization, aim to help women cope with these terrible side effects. They understand that self-image and physical appearance have a direct impact on the patient's self-esteem and in turns hinders the recovery process. The organization offers over 14,500 group workshops nationwide in more than 3,000 locations where beauty professional volunteers teach women beauty techniques to help them manage the appearance-related side effects.

Other institutions like DNI International offer reconstructive cosmetic products and services available to cancer patients at select institutions. David Nicholas and David Miranowicz, co-presidents of DNI International, empathize with patients on how a decreased physical appearance is directly linked to a lower quality of life. "Chemotherapy can yellow the skin; they often lose their eyebrows and eyelashes, and radiation burns the skin. But with some education, we can empower them to soften the effects of those treatments, and they can feel more like themselves again...which makes them feel better." DNI's user-friendly reconstructive cosmetic makeup products are available to cancer patients in the Rowley, MA and Massachusetts General Hospital-Oncology Unit.

Social and Emotional Side Effects

Newly diagnosed cancer patients and families may also experience role changes. Cancer patients, who were originally extremely independent pre-cancer, will now inevitably become more dependent on their family and loved ones. Patients are also likely to experience feelings of anxiety, depression, frustration, and hopelessness. Cancer survivors like Bill Gasperson stress the importance of joining support groups and that the larger the patient's support group is the better. Support groups offer several benefits, some which include:

Learning tips and resources through sharing among peersConnecting with cancer survivors and coaches for strength and encouragementFinding inspiration through patient empowermentIdentifying the right questions across various stages in the diseaseCompanionship - rediscovering the ability to laugh despite the disease

A strong social support network most importantly provides the patient with the emotional support to help battle the hurdles of this terrible disease. Cancer survivors have stressed that perhaps the most important emotional support is needed when they experienced disease recurrence.

We hope this post was helpful and would love to hear some of your own lessons learned.

Pulse of the Patient is an online cancer support community that is driven entirely by patients rather than by physicians, with a primary goal to improve cancer patients' quality of life and care through knowledge-sharing based on the principle of "If I Knew Then, What I Know Now...". We are the quality of life site for anyone touched by cancer. Please visit our blog at: Our Blog.

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