When a doctor says a 5 year survival rate for the patient it means that the patient is likely to live for up to 5 years after diagnoses.
However some patients live longer and shorter lives depending on the condition they have.
A favorable prognosis means a good chance of treatment success.
For example, the overall 5-year relative survival rate for testicular cancer is 95%.
This means that most men diagnosed with the disease have a favorable prognosis.
Most doctors do tell patients they are dying.
Telling a patient they are dying is one of the hardest parts about being a doctor and if the patient is not able to communicate then the patients family will be told that the patient is dying.
Treatable but not curable means that the disease or condition can be treated so that it helps manage the condition so the condition is not fatal but the condition has no cure so it will be with you for life even with treatment.
Some cancers are treatable but not curable which means the treatment can help get rid of the cancer for a short term but it comes back when treatment stops.
Diseases that have no cure are certain types of cancer. dementia, including Alzheimer's disease. advanced lung, heart, kidney and liver disease. stroke and other neurological diseases, including motor neurone disease and multiple sclerosis.
Other common illnesses that have no cure include the Flu, Cold Viruses, Covid-19 and influenza, measles, herpes, etc
An incurable disease or illness means it's just not curable.
Most times though an incurable disease or illness can be a terminal illness or disease.
However you might have an incurable disease that is just not curable but not fatal.
Incurable does not always mean the disease is terminal.
Some diseases that are incurable are not always terminal or fatal diseases though but a lot of them are.
Although for cancer if the cancer is incurable then most often it's terminal cancer as it cannot be cured.
However it depends on how fast the cancer is growing as some cancers are slow growing and some people may live longer than expected.
And then again some cancers are faster growing and can be terminal and fatal in a short amount of time.
What happens after your last chemo treatment your white blood cell count will go down.
However the white blood cell count should start to go back to normal about a month after your last treatment.
Your red blood cell count may also go down, although it should go back to normal around the same time.
After having a chemotherapy treatment the chemo usually stops working after 3 days although if the chemo is working to kill the cancer then you only need to have the chemotherapy again when the doctor says you need the treatment again.
The chemotherapy course usually lasts 3–6 months, although this can vary.
The timing depends on various factors, including the type and stage of cancer, the person's overall health, and the type of chemotherapy drug that the doctor uses
When chemo is not working you'll usually notice signs of the chemo not working which include a tumor growing or not shrinking and cancer that is spreading to other areas of the body, a process called metastasis and or the cancer symptoms returning.
When your chemo is not working your oncologist might suggest new treatments, such as trying different combinations of chemotherapy drugs that include experimental options.
Still, you and your oncologist must consider whether more treatment will improve your health, or whether it's best to stop treatment altogether and pursue palliative care.
Chemo works in your body to destroy cancer cells and chemo works in the body by keeping the cancer cells from growing, dividing, and making more cells.
Chemotherapy is a drug treatment that uses powerful chemicals to kill fast-growing cells in your body.
Chemotherapy is most often used to treat cancer, since cancer cells grow and multiply much more quickly than most cells in the body.
Chemotherapy is a type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs as part of a standardized chemotherapy regimen.
Chemotherapy may be given with a curative intent, or it may aim to prolong life or to reduce symptoms.
Most cycles of chemo range from 2 to 6 weeks.
The number of treatment doses of chemo scheduled within each cycle also depends on the prescribed chemotherapy.
For example, each cycle may contain only 1 dose on the first day.
Or, a cycle may contain more than 1 dose given each week or each day.
You may experience nausea (feeling like you might throw up) and vomiting (throwing up) after your last chemotherapy treatment.
It should go away in 2 to 3 weeks.
Your appetite may continue to be affected due to taste changes you may have experienced during your treatment.
Some people feel the effects of chemo right away, but for others, it takes a day or two.
Chemotherapy is a drug-based treatment for cancer.
It's commonly administered intravenously, although some chemotherapy drugs are injected or taken orally.
While this treatment may cause discomfort, it isn't typically painful.
Pain caused by nerve damage is a potential short-term effect of chemotherapy.
During the 3 decades, the proportion of survivors treated with chemotherapy alone increased (from 18% in 1970-1979 to 54% in 1990-1999), and the life expectancy gap in this chemotherapy-alone group decreased from 11.0 years (95% UI, 9.0-13.1 years) to 6.0 years (95% UI, 4.5-7.6 years).
It usually takes at least 30 minutes for the drugs to arrive.
Some of the pre-medications may be steroids, anti-nausea medications and/or anxiety medications.
Each doctor will send an order to the infusion room telling them what chemotherapy and pre-medications to administer.