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How Does Chemotherapy Work?
How does chemotherapy work? If you're wondering what to expect when you go in for a chemotherapy treatment, you've come to the right place. You may find that your treatment is administered slightly differently than what is described below, but generally, this is what you can expect will happen:
- Pre-Treatment Appointment
Your doctor will set up an appointment for your prior to the treatment (but on the same day). At this appointment, you'll be weighed, have your temperature taken, and have your blood pressure checked. You'll also have your port accessed (see #2) and your blood tested (see #3) at this appointment.
- Accessing Your Port
If you have a port, read this - if you don't, you can skip down to #3.
Your port will be accessed the day of the treatment. Here are some suggestions to make this as painless as possible:
- Most ports are placed in a person's upper chest; if this is where your port is located, I highly recommend that you wear a shirt that will allow for easy access - meaning no turtlenecks or shirts that hug your neck.
- Ask your doctor to write you a prescription for EMLA Cream. EMLA Cream is a topical anesthetic, which means that after applying the EMLA Cream (about 30 minutes before your port will be accessed), the skin over your port will be numb - this makes the whole port access process a lot less painful. Trust me - you want to get EMLA Cream - it's a wonderful thing.
Okay, so this is how accessing a port works: the nurse will use a cotton ball or sponge-type thing to clean thoroughly clean the skin on and around your port. If you have used EMLA Cream, the nurse will take care of cleaning that off, too.
The nurse will then poke a needle through your skin into the port. If you've used EMLA Cream, this won't be that bad because your skin will be numb - just turn your head before the nurse actually pokes you. If you choose not to use EMLA Cream, then this needle poke may take your breath away for a few seconds, but I promise you'll survive.
The nurse will draw blood from your port for two reasons: 1) for your blood test (described in #3), and 2) to make sure that your port is functioning properly.
After blood has been drawn, the nurse will clamp off the little hose that is now hanging from your port and will send you on your merry way.
- Testing Your Blood
Prior to your treatment, your blood will be tested to make sure that your red blood cell count, hemoglobin level, and hematocrit level is sufficient for receiving the chemotherapy drugs. These three counts measure your blood's oxygen-carrying capacity. If your blood counts are too low, your doctor may decide to either skip the chemotherapy treatment or lower the amount of chemo drugs administered during the treatment.
If you have a port, the blood for this test will be drawn from it. If you don't have a port, the blood will most likely be drawn from the inside of your elbow.
- Seeing Your Doctor
You'll most likely see your doctor prior to your chemotherapy treatment, but sometimes this appointment may be after the treatment or even on a different day. At the appointment, he or she will discuss the results of the blood test with you and may ask you questions about how you feel, any side effects you may be experiencing, etc. Assuming your blood counts are high enough for you to receive the chemo drugs, you will have the chemotherapy treatment after seeing your doctor.
- Chemotherapy Treatment
Finally! After all of that, you're set to have your treatment. Unless you are very lucky, this part of the process starts by waiting in a room for a long time for an oncology nurse to call your name. Waiting, waiting, waiting. Bring a book.
After your name is called, they may check your blood pressure and temperature again (even though you've already had this done once that day) before taking you to your treatment room.
You may get your own little treatment room, you may share one with one or two other people, or you may be in a big room that has a lot of people in it - it all depends on the set-up at your hospital.
You'll probably sit in a chair during your treatment, but depending on how you feel and the length of your treatment, you may lie down instead.
If you have a port, the oncology nurse will hook the little hose coming out of your port to an IV line. If you don't have a port, an IV line will be hooked to you in some other way - probably inside your elbow. Either way, you're going to be tethered to the IV pole at this point, so if you need to use the restroom, best to do it before you're hooked up to the IV line. You can always use the restroom during your treatment, but that requires you wheeling the IV pole with you into the bathroom - which is a real pain.
Okay, and now the moment you've been waiting for - the drugs! The oncology nurse will hang the bags of drugs on your IV pole (along with a bag of saline to keep you hydrated) and will push the button to get the party started.
You may feel nothing as the chemo drugs begin their journey through your body - or you may feel a bit nauseous. Or you may feel REALLY nauseous. Different drugs may have different effects on you. The oncology nurse will check up on you periodically, and you may even have access to a "call" button that you can push if you start feeling really sick or need anything else from the nurse.
You may also receive certain chemo drugs that require the oncology nurse to manually inject. If this is the case, the nurse will sit there with the syringe full of the chemo drug and will slowly push its contents through the little IV line into your body.
Note that some chemotherapy drugs are taken orally in the form of pills. If this is the case, you won't have to go through the entire rigmarole I described above - but you will have to get your blood tested regularly while taking the chemo pills to monitor your blood counts.
After all of the chemo drugs have been injected into your body, the oncology nurse will flush your system with saline and unhook you from the IV line. The nurse will also take the little hose out of your port or arm. And then you can go home!
The whole chemotherapy treatment process can take as little as 2 hours or as many as twelve...or longer. It all depends on the treatment you'll be receiving - so be sure to ask your doctor how long you can expect it to last so you can plan accordingly.
How does chemotherapy work? I hope this has answered some of the questions you have about what to expect at your chemo treatment.
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