Oncologists push chemo as chemo or chemotherapy can in most cases completely get rid of cancer without it possibly coming back.
Examples of cancers that are killed and treated successfully with chemotherapy are testicular cancer, leukemia and lymphoma and some others.
Medicare does pay for chemo and covers the cost of chemo when you have cancer.
Medicare Part A covers inpatient hospital stays and care in a skilled nursing home, hospice care and some home health care.
Medicare Part B will cover certain outpatient care, medical supplies, preventative services and certain doctor services.
Chemo is covered by insurance as chemo is a medically necessary procedure although you may need to pay a small portion of the chemo cost although some chemo is covered by some health insurance policies.
Radiotherapy is cheaper cancer treatment than chemotherapy although radiotherapy is mostly used for treating rectal cancer and chemotherapy is used for treating other forms of cancer.
The price of chemotherapy ranges from $1,000.00 to as much as $12,000.00
With insurance you may only pay $136.00 to $169.00 out of pocket for the chemotherapy treatment.
Most people will start chemotherapy within 30 days to 90 days after surgery.
Some people may start chemo within a few weeks after surgery but most people wait until at least 30 days after surgery to begin chemotherapy.
Chemotherapy is most often used when the cancer gets into stage 2 after any other treatments don't help.
Although even at stage 1 cancer chemotherapy may be used as the sooner you start chemotherapy the higher chance you have at getting rid of the cancer before it progresses.
In general, regimens for stage 3 cancers typically start with either surgery or treatment to shrink the tumor before surgery, such as chemotherapy, radiation, or a combination of both.
Chemo doesn't shorten your life and in some cases chemo can extend your life.
Sometimes chemo may get rid of certain cancers completely while other cancers may remain but be prevented from getting worse while on chemo.
Some people on chemo live for 3 to 12 months on chemo and for others they may live 2 to 4 years on chemo.
And in some cases the chemo may actually get rid of the cancer completely and the person can live a normal lifespan.
Cancer can still spread even while someone is on chemo.
While most chemo is successful at getting rid of cancer and keeping the cancer from spreading it's still possible for cancer to spread when on chemo.
You can sleep next to someone with chemo and even have sex with someone with chemo as long as the person is feeling up to it.
The chemo poses very little risks to other people around the chemo patient.
Cancer is least likely to develop in people under the age of 20 years of age and those over 80 years of age.
The incidence rates for cancer overall climb steadily as age increases, from fewer than 25 cases per 100,000 people in age groups under age 20, to about 350 per 100,000 people among those aged 45–49, to more than 1,000 per 100,000 people in age groups 60 years and older.
You cannot smell cancer itself but sometimes tumors that develop with cancer can cause some unpleasant odors.
For the average person it's not easy to detect the smell of cancer, but they may notice changes in the odor of body fluids when they're receiving treatment for cancer.
The sense of smell may be more sensitive to people undergoing cancer treatments.
Strong odors, such as those in foods, are especially offending.
The slowest growing cancer is Carcinoid Cancer.
You can have Carcinoid cancer for several years without knowing it which is why it's called a slow growing cancer.
The deadliest cancers are lung cancer, colerectal cancer, breast cancer, pancreatic cancer and prostate cancer.
Lung and bronchus cancer is responsible for the most deaths with 130,180 people expected to die from this disease.
That is nearly three times the 52,580 deaths due to colorectal cancer, which is the second most common cause of cancer death.
Pancreatic cancer is the third deadliest cancer, causing 49,830 deaths.
The five types of cancer are Lymphoma, Leukemia, Melanoma, Carcinoma and Sarcoma.
When a cancer patient stops eating or drinking it means the cancer patient is in the last stages of the cancer is the cancer patients body is shutting down and preparing for death.
Signs that a cancer patient is dying include.
Breathing stops.
Blood pressure cannot be heard.
Pulse stops.
Eyes stop moving and may stay open.
Pupils of the eyes stay large, even in bright light.
Control of bowels or bladder may be lost as the muscles relax.
The amount of rounds of chemo which are normal is between 4 to 8 rounds of chemo.
A person may get chemo treatments daily, weekly, or monthly, but they're usually given in on-and-off cycles.
This means, for example, that you may get chemo the first 2 weeks and then have a week off, making it a cycle that will start over every 3 weeks.
The time off lets your body build healthy new cells and regain it's strength.
Chemo is usually not worth it for terminal cancer as if the terminal cancer is severe enough the chemo will only extend your life for around a month or two at most or if it extends you life a bit longer you'll usually suffer more.
Stage I: Cancer is localized to a small area and hasn't spread to lymph nodes or other tissues.
Stage II: Cancer has grown, but it hasn't spread.
Stage III: Cancer has grown larger and has possibly spread to lymph nodes or other tissues.
Stage IV: Cancer has spread to other organs or areas of your body.
Stage 4 cancer is not always a terminal cancer and in some cases treatments can help and you may live a long life with Stage 4 cancer depending on the type of cancer.
People who are diagnosed in stage 4 who decide against treatment live an average of 6 months.
In contrast, those diagnosed with stage 1A disease who elect no treatment live an average of two years.
Stage 4 cancer is caused when the cancer cells are left untreated and left to spread and grow to other parts of your body.
Stage 4 cancer which is also sometimes called advanced cancer or late-stage cancer, is cancer that has metastasized (spread) to other parts of the body from the original site.
This occurs when cancer cells break away from the primary tumor and enter the bloodstream or lymphatic system.
Surviving Stage 4 cancer is sometimes possible but it depends on the type of cancer.
The sooner you get treatment the better chance you have at surviving Stage 4 cancer although in most cases Stage 4 cancer cannot be cured.
Stage 4 cancer is serious and requires immediate medical treatment to stop it from getting worse and causing death.
Stage 4 cancer usually can't be cured.
In addition, because it will have spread throughout the body, it is unlikely it can be completely removed.
The goal of treatment is to prolong survival and improve quality of life.
In some rare cases Stage 4 cancer can be cured with chemotherapy although it's not always the case.
But even when it cannot be cured the chemotherapy can keep the stage 4 cancer from getting worse and can help you live longer.
Stage 4 cancer is challenging to treat, but treatment options may help control the cancer and improve pain, other symptoms and quality of life.
Systemic drug treatments, such as targeted therapy or chemotherapy, are common for stage 4 cancers.
Doctors know how long a cancer patient will live based on the survival rate and the length of time other cancer patients with the same cancers have lived after being diagnosed.
Some people have lived a bit longer with their cancer diagnoses and some people live for shorter times.
The cancer that has the highest survival rate is prostate cancer.