Cancer Rules

Cancer does not have any hard and fast rules. The rules that exist, treatment options and survivability are based on statistics. Two people can have the same type and stage of cancer and their bodies may be reacting completely different. They could be taking the same treatment and the reaction to the treatment may not be the same. Some patients take a given type of chemotherapy and have no adverse side effects, while another on the same chemotherapy may experience all of the adverse side effects that are listed for the particular drugs. Cancer and treatments do not always follow a given rule or path. This can be very frustrating to the patient and caregivers. The oncologist normally begins with the normal treatment plans and then modify them based on reaction to the treatments.

When you start your treatments, you will find that each and every person is different. It is always good to join a cancer support group to hear what other patients have experienced. Even if the other patient has a different type of cancer and treatments a lot of the responses are similar, and they may have advice that can help you through the process. Cancer goes where it wants to go and does what it wants to do. Trust your oncologist and let them know any changes that are occurring during the treatment.