Managing Side Effects of Cancer Treatment

How Blood Test Results Can Affect a Chemotherapy Session

When your parent is undergoing chemotherapy to treat cancer, a lot hinges on the blood test results that precede each chemotherapy session. Low counts can indicate serious side effects, including fatigue, bruising, and vulnerability to infection -- and can also mean that treatment must be postponed while your parent's body heals...

Hair Loss: All Is Not Lost

"Will I lose my hair?" may well be one of the first questions your parent asks the doctor as he prepares for chemotherapy. And it may come as a surprise to you just how anxious and upsetting your parent finds this particular side effect. "We may not want to admit it, but our hair is one of the things...

Cancer and Mouth Sores

Mouth sores are one of the most common side effects of chemotherapy or radiation therapy of the head and neck area. Known to doctors as mucositis, they can actually occur anywhere in the mouth or throat and develop when the ultrasensitive tissue that lines the mouth and throat becomes inflamed.

Neuropathy and Chemotherapy: What You Can Do

Neuropathy is the medical term for nerve damage, usually to the peripheral nerves in the hands, feet, arms, and legs. Chemotherapy drugs are toxic to healthy nerve cells as well as to cancer cells. When those nerves begin to stop working, the result is tingling, numbness, weakness, and pain, even an impaired sense of touch...

Coping With the Psychological Issues of Hair Loss

In the face of a life-threatening illness and treatment that's sometimes as painful as the illness itself, hair loss might seem like the least of your parent's worries. But it's just the opposite: For many cancer patients, losing their hair is one of their biggest fears, and one of the most emotionally upsetting experiences of the whole cancer journey...

White blood cells are the body's best defensive weapons in the fight against germs and disease, so when white blood cell counts drop as a result of chemotherapy, radiation treatment, or certain types of cancer, it puts the patient in a vulnerable position...

Preparing for Hair Loss: A To-Do List

Knowing your parent may lose hair due to cancer treatments, it's a good idea to prepare in advance -- no matter whether it's your mom or dad who's affected. After all, some men opt for hairpieces, too. What are the steps to take??

Understanding Low Red Blood Counts

It wouldn't really be an exaggeration to say that red blood cells are the life force of the body, since they play such an essential role in carrying oxygen from the lungs to the cells. That's why when your parent's red blood count drops, he really feels it -- and shows it. He may be pale, tired, weak, and have trouble catching his breath...

12 Ways to Cope with "Chemo Brain"

The chemicals used in chemotherapy are powerful -- strong enough to kill cancer cells. That's a good thing, but they also seem to have a little-understood effect on the brain, causing cognitive problems such as memory lapses and loss of concentration.

Managing Low Red Blood Counts

Fatigue is one of the biggest complaints of cancer patients, and one of the most common causes is anemia, which occurs when chemotherapy or radiation causes your parent's red blood cell count (RBC) to drop. Here's how to help your parent cope -- and feel better -- when his RBC is low, and when to seek further treatment...

Nausea: Helping Your Parent Keep Up His Appetite

To avoid making food a source of stress and conflict between you and your parent, think of your role as similar to that of a hostess at a party: You want to offer your parent a delicious, nutritious meal, but after that it's up to him to decide when and what to eat. Do be proactive and work with his doctors to combat and reduce the nausea as much as possible...

How to Deal With Hair Loss From Chemotherapy or Radiation

Hair loss from chemotherapy or radiation therapy isn't just upsetting; it can be a nuisance and uncomfortable to boot. Here are some suggestions to keep your parent as calm and comfortable as possible while dealing with this annoying side effect.