Tag: Cancer Patients

Coping with Lymphoma During and After Treatment

The following article lists some simple, informative tips that will help you have a better experience with Lymphoma.

When a person is diagnosed with a condition known whereas lymphoma, his life should evolve in higher than just having laboratory tests and deciding what treatment to take. During the entire hike of the treatment and several years following its issue, there are many other issues that would come and go, jibing coping with side effects from treatments, possible remission and relapse, understanding the concepts of disease response, and arranging for necessary funding for the treatment. The immediate family of the patient should also readily provide support in any form other than financial. The issues should be immediately understood and addressed.

Remember that lymphoma treatment could be long and very complicated. Every type of treatment ( radiation, chemotherapy, stem cell transplantation, and antibodies ) could bring about its own complications and issues. Learned are known side effects of taking jibing lymphoma treatments. They include hair annihilation, tiredness, weakness, loss of appetite, sore mouth, and sore skin. Red blood and hoary blood count could also fall as such cells could also be killed along with cancer cells during treatment. In some cases, there is nausea, vomiting, and trial or pain in swallowing and drinking.

For the financial aspect, understand that lymphoma treatment could be significantly profitable. Several treatments and drugs may be covered under health insurances and government grants but still overall costs could be high. The perceptive could opt to take financial succour from the manipulation specifically granted to cancer patients. There are even non – government organizations that provide financial support to lymphoma and other cancer patients.

The patient should understand treatment response as well as survival. When treatment is completed, the doctors should pdq assess treatment flurry. Once all diseases seem to have already disappeared, the patient has had a exhaustive response. He is in a stage of remission. When the disease reappears in the imminent, there is a condition called a relapse. The patient should special well understand the possibility for both remission and relapse. The doctor should explain each very carefully to the patient.

There are issues following the lymphoma treatment. Patients who win the initial battle against the disease should still expect significant issues in the coming years. Lymphoma and the treatments used have long – term effects. The survivors battle is not yet over after complete recovery. In the coming years after the treatment, these could still be expected: cancer – related fatigue, infertility, memory problems, and possible heart damages.

Lastly, the lymphoma patient should not feel alone. The patient needs to feel that his battle against the disease is not fought by him alone. Moral and emotional support could be important. The family members and the loved ones of the patient could holding significant roles in supporting the affected individual. Some people ignore to recognize the fact that recovery from lymphoma goes beyond mere monetary expenses. Physical recovery from the disease should be complemented by emotional and mental recovery. In this aspect, making the patient feel loved and supported by people around him would all right help.
You can’t predict when knowing something extra about Lymphoma will come in handy. If you learned anything new about Lymphoma in this article, you should file the article where you can find it again.

Massage Therapy Risks – Fact or Fiction?

True enough, some critics believe that there are also risks involved in massage as a therapeutic technique. Life is not a bed of roses and it follows that for every advantage there is an equivalent disadvantage. How real can the massage therapy risks be? What impact will they pose on the human health? While there are folks who ring the bell to the benefits of massage as a form of therapy, there are likewise those individuals who contest them.

Clear enough, it is safe to assume that there is typically an exception to every rule. Simply put, there are several other health conditions which are not to be addressed by massage alone. There is a much better medical solution that is apt for them.

Explaining the other Side

In several articles, you surely have read about the various kinds of massage therapy. They come in different names and are done in different fashions too. At the same time, they are comprised of different techniques. The point that is being driven is the fact that if massage therapy is applied to a serious medical circumstance such as cancer, the tendency is for the situation to get even worse. In fact, the individual’s life may be actually threatened. Doctors often advice that their attention should be called for prior to taking things further. Any type of massage therapy has to be pre-approved by them. Of course, the patient needs to go through an extensive test to ensure that no sort of danger will get inflicted on him.

A Threat for Cancer Patients

Studies show how this kind of therapy can truly endanger the life of a cancer patient. Cancer is a serious illness that should be addressed following the right healthcare precautions. Some of the risks involve the following:

Bone fractures. Cancer treatments often lead to the weakness of the bones. There is a tendency that during the massage, the application of some pressure may cause the bones to break.

Bleeding. Cancer-afflicted individuals often bleed profusely. For one, the deep tissue massage may cause them the life-threatening internal bleeding.

Spread of the cancer tumors. While this is yet being taken under a heated debate, there are some specialists who claim that a strong pressure on the tumor area will lead it towards metastasis. This may not yet be proven but it still calls for an extreme form of caution.

Lymphedema. This is the term used to refer to the buildup of the lymph in the soft tissues which therefore causes the soreness of the limbs. Some forms of massage therapy can cause this condition especially to someone who has just had the cancerous lymph nodes removed.

Symptoms of flu. Those who have been taking up chemotherapy sessions and at the same time the massage therapy are likely to develop the symptoms of flu.

Pains. Unbearable pains often come after the treatment which nonetheless heightens the patient’s suffering.

Post-surgery effect. Someone who is yet recuperating from a surgery should not get exposed to this kind of therapy since it may lead to the reopening of the incision and the provoking of the internal or external bleeding.

These are just some of the prime massage therapy risks known to the public. Sure enough, some other dangers may surface later on. Thus be very careful and seek for your doctor’s advice prior to consenting to this kind of healing procedure.

RISKS OF MASSAGE THERAPY

By and large, massage therapy that is performed by a properly schooled and well experienced massage therapist who practices his or her art prudently and with due caution, is risk free to its recipients health and wellbeing. For that reason along, if for no other, massage therapists must be selected very carefully as credentials and licenses are scrutinized meticulously, references are checked with diligence and questions are asked relentlessly. Regardless of how it is phrased or worded, one question which must always be asked of a potential massage therapist is the following, Which health conditions would you consider preclusive of massage therapy and why? And the correct answer, whether stated in exactly those words or different ones, should be, There are certain health conditions which must rule out massage therapy and those are And he or she must name the following:

* Cancer. Massage therapy comes in different forms which affect the body differently. There are also many different types of cancers and patients may be at different stages and receiving different treatments. In some cases and certain types of massage therapy may lead to life threatening results while in other cases with another type of massage therapy the results may be extraordinarily beneficial. Because of such complexity, it is essential to consult with the medical provider who knows the particulars of the case in question before proceeding with a massage therapy of any kind.

The potential risks involved in performing massage therapy on cancer patients do not inevitably discard the entire concept of massage therapy but it does mean that extra caution must be practiced and, perhaps, moderate to extreme alteration of the treatment is in order. And the health risks are the following:

– Fractures of bones. Certain forms of cancer and their treatments weaken bones to the extent that they can easily break under pressure.

– Bleeding. Many cancer patients have the tendency to bleed easily. Deep tissue massage can cause dangerous internal bleeding.

– Spreading of cancerous tumors. There is an ongoing debate about the effects of massage therapy on tumors. Some claim that applying vigorous pressure to the area where the tumor is present will cause it to metastasis (break down and to spread or to increase its rate of growth). Others, however, deny that claim as unsubstantiated and untrue. It is best to play it safe and not massage the tumor region or its surrounding soft tissues.

– Lymphedema (the buildup of lymph in soft tissue which leads to swelling of the limbs). Certain types of massage therapy in patients who have had their lymph nodes removed due to cancer may lead to lymphedema.

– Flu-like symptoms. Patients who are going through chemotherapy can often develop symptoms which look and feel like the flu after having been treated to certain types of massage therapy.

– Pain. Cancer patients frequently suffer a great deal of pain and most massage therapy techniques can result in some temporary pain immediately after the treatment. That may translate to added pain when too much of it is already present and that can be quite literally unbearable.

* Post-surgery. Shortly after surgery, the wound is still in the process of healing visually on the surface of the skin as well as internally. Applying pressure to the site may cause a series of risky health problems such as reopening the incision, trigger internal and/or external bleeding or blood clotting, and so on.

* Skin conditions. Areas where the skin is infected, inflamed or covered with rashes or sores should not be massaged as it can lead to worsening of the condition.

Even when taking into account all the risks which have been mentioned above, massage therapy can still be very beneficial to most people in most situations. Rather than discounting it completely due to specific concerns, I would advise consulting a physician.

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