Will chemo take away quality of life for my mother, who has Alzheimer's?
My mother is 86 and in the beginning stages of Alzheimer's. Won't chemo really take away her quality of life?
Expert Answer
Making decisions about treatment options for cancer is really tricky in older patients when there are additional health problems such as Alzheimer's. Your concerns about chemotherapy compromising your mother's quality of life are valid, and you need to take them up with her doctor. As part of this discussion, you need to find out the prognosis of your mother's cancer, and what exactly you can expect if you choose not to treat the cancer with chemotherapy. Here are some of the questions you might ask:
- How quickly will my mother's cancer progress without chemotherapy?
- What will her symptoms be and how much will she suffer?
- If she does choose chemotherapy, what can we expect in terms of outcome?
- What are the common side effects of the prescribed chemotherapy and now much will she suffer?
Since your mother has early stage Alzheimer's, she may become easily overwhelmed and "check out." You may need to help her absorb all this information and make sure she really understands what will happen with either choice.
When you wish to encourage the doctor to level with you, it helps to spell that out clearly. You might explain that you're trying to understand the pain and suffering involved in each option -- chemotherapy and no chemotherapy -- and would prefer that the doctor not sugar coat the information. It's very important to choose a medical team with whom you can communicate clearly and have a good working relationship.