Chemotherapy Administration
Intravenous injection - In intravenous injection, the mesothelioma treatment drugs are often diluted with liquid and delivered from a bag via a 'drip' into a vein in your arm or hand. Another method of delivery is to insert a plastic tube directly into a vein in the chest. Two potential problems with the intravenous method are the risk of tube blockage and infection. The plastic delivery tube should be flushed with Heparin, a drug that prevents clotting about once a week. You will be able to do this yourself. Intravenous chemotherapy is given over a period of time, usually ranging from half an hour to a few hours, or sometimes a few days.
Infusion pumps
A fairly new and increasingly common method of delivery is the infusion pump. The pumps are portable and are used to deliver a controlled amount of drugs into the bloodstream over a period of time. This means that you may take your mesothelioma treatment at home and make fewer trips to the hospital.
Chemotherapy
Even though chemotherapy can cause unpleasant side effects, some people still manage to lead normal lives. Sometimes chemotherapy can actually make you feel better by alleviating the effects of the cancer. Unfortunately, the drugs can affect normal cells as well as malignant mesothelioma tissue. This can cause many unpleasant side effects. Not all chemotherapy drugs cause the same side effects, however, and some people may have very few. Cancer treatments produce different reactions in different people. Reactions also vary from treatment to treatment. It should be remembered that nearly all side effects are only temporary and will disappear once treatment has stopped.
Body parts that may be affected by chemotherapy in malignant mesothelioma treatment are those whose normal cells rapidly divide and grow. These areas are the mouth, digestive system, skin, hair, and bone marrow.
If you would like to know more about chemotherapy, side effects or additional malignant mesothelioma information, ask your doctor. Although the side effects of chemotherapy can be severe, they should be weighed against the benefit they can produce. Remember, if you are feeling violently ill, your doctor may be able to prescribe other drugs with fewer or less potent side effects.
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