Side Effects Of Colon Cancer Chemo

When a patient is diagnosed with colon cancer, the treatment will depend upon what stage they are at. There are four stages, 1 being the earliest and 4 being the most advanced. Generally spekaing, the most usual way to treat colon cancer that is not spread to other parts of the body is first of all to have an operation. My father was treated for colon cancer and he has now been clear for about a year. I am not entirely sure but I believe he was at stage 2 of the disease. The lump was large but it had not spread to other parts of his body. Before having chemo for colon cancer he had to have radiotherapy to reduce the size of the tumor and then an operation to remove the affected area. Unfortunately he does now have to wear a colostomy bag for the rest of his life but I consider this a small price to pay.

After his operation, my father had a break of a few weeks to recover and then he started the second phase of his treatment, chemothreapy. Colon cancer chemo is often often given in tablet form, and with my father this was the case. Until this happened I was unaware that this was even possible. I had chemo for testicular cancer and this included being connected to a drip for days on end and frequent stays in the hospital. From our combined experiences I noticed that although my fathers colon cancer chemo was certainly not pleasant, it was not as invasive as mine. He did not lose his hair, and whilst he did experience side effects they didn't seem to be as drastic as mine.

When I had chemo I experienced tiredness like I had never felt before. Walking to the toilet felt like a 2 hour session in the gym. Even eating made me tired. My dad however, continued a fairly normal lifestyle. He did get tired and needed to sleep more, but he was able to do normal daily activities. Also, (as I mentioned earlier) he did not lose his hair. I went completely bald. There was some similarities though. Both of us and skin type problems and my dads seemed much worse than mine. He developed nasty sores and his skin was very dry and cracked in some places, whereas I simply had tingling sensations and a little discomfort. In both cases our appetite was affected. Neither ever felt like eating much, and many foods simply tasted awful. Beer being one of them. Because of some of the chemicals in colon cancer chemo and many other types of chemotherapy it is very common to develop a metalic taste in the mouth and some foods seem to be prone to increase this taste.

When radiotherapy is given for the treatment of colon cancer, it can be used at two stages. Sometimes, (as with my dad) it is used before an operation in an attempt t reduce the size of a tumor. This makes it easier to operate. It is also not uncommon for it to be used after surgery either on it's own or in conjunction with chemo.

All in all, if you are anything like my dad then Colon Cancer Chemo treatment is not something I would wish on anybody but it is not one of the worst. And if it's in tablet form and you do not have radiotherapy then you may have to spend far less time in hospital.