Breast Cancer
... available for women: 1. Surgery and Radiation: A) Surgery is a treatment that is used to remove local tumors. Most women with breast cancer will have some kind of surgery. Surgery is done in order to determine the stage in which the cancer is in and to determine if other treatment is needed. (Breast Cancer Health Center) 1. Total mastectomy: is the complete removal of the breast but not the removal of the lymph nodes that are under the arm. This treatment is 98-99% affective in cure. Women that are treated with a total mastectomy do not need another type of treatment. 2. Partial mastectomy: is when the cancer is removed and as well as the healthy breast tissue. Which usually come out to be about one forth of the breast if not more that is removed. 3. Lumpectomy: is when the cancer is taken out and as well as some of the tissue that is around the cancer. 4. Modified Radical Mastectomy: is the remove of the breast and the lymph nodes in the under the arm. 5. Radical Mastectomy: is when the breast, lymph node, and the chest wall muscles under the breast are removed. B) Radiation Therapy uses high-energy X-rays to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors. This is usually the treatment that is used after a lumpectomy. It is also recommended after a mastectomy, if there was a large tumor and it has spread to more than four lymph nodes in the armpit. This treatment if required, it is used three to four weeks after surgery. Treatment is usually given five days a week and it last five to six consecutive weeks. The process is painless and is similar to getting an X-ray; the treatment usually last about 30 minutes. After the treatment the breast may be pink, puffy and somewhat tender, as if it had been sunburned. ( Breast Cancer Health Centerand CNN) 2. Chemotherapy: A) Chemotherapy is a treatment of drugs. This treatment is used, just as radiation, after surgery. It is used to kill any cancer cells that may have spread outside of the breast. It is also know and sometimes just referred to as Chemo. Unlike surgery and radiation that just treat one specific area, chemotherapy spreads and works through out the body. There are more then one hundred types of chemo drugs that are used in various mixture. One chemotherapy drug is effective enough to treat the cancer; they are generally more powerful if the are combined. By mixing the drugs it reduces the chance that a person my become resistant on a certain drug. Chemotherapy can be given to the patient in the fallowing way: (Breast Cancer Health Center) 1. By mouth or orally: It is usually in a pill or liquid form. 2. Intravenous or IV: The drug is injected into the vain. 3. Intrathecal or IT: The drug is injected into the spinal canal. 4. Intraarterial: Injected directly into the artery to treat a single area. 5. Topical: The drug is applied directly to a cancerous area on the skin. C. The side affects that can be expected from treatment: 1. Symptoms that are associated with radiation: A) The symptoms that are most common with radiation treatment are: Tiredness, Lack Of Energy, Fatigue, Nausea, Vomiting, Diarrhea, Hair Loss, Low Blood Counts( White blood cells), Mouth Problems, Loss Of Appetite, Anxiety, Depression and Grief. (Breast Cancer Health Center) B) Not all patients may or may not experience these symptoms. Most people do not begin to feel tired until after the second or third week of treatment. Nausea and vomiting usually only happen if the stomach or abdomen is exposed to the radiation. This can also attribute to the loss of appetite, as well as being to tired and the taste for food can also be changed due to the radiation. Patients can be given a medication to prevent the nausea. When a patient begins to have diarrhea, it is usually do to the fact that the patient is being exposed to radiation to the lower part of the abdomen. With radiation, the only part of the body that loses hair is the area of the body that is being exposed to the radiation. It also reduce the white blood cell count, which the body uses to fight off infections. Treatment can be delayed if the count of the whit...