Cancer Treatments

Radiation therapy - a method used to target leftover cells after a tumor is removed
- Radiation therapy is a local treatment (only affects the tumor area)
- Method:
- High-energy rays stop/slow the growth of cancerous cells
- Either done through a machine shooting beams into the body or through radiation pellets
- Side Effects: soreness, sensitivity, skin looking burnt, nausea, fatigue, etc.
Chemotherapy - a treatment used to target metastasized cancer cells
- Metastasized cells - cancerous cells that travel away from the original tumor site to the rest of the body
- Chemotherapy is a systemic treatment (throughout the body)
- Method:
- Drugs are injected into the bloodstream that target rapidly dividing cells
- Side Effects: hair loss, nausea, vomiting, fatigue, lack of appetite, thinning skin, mouth sores, gum sensitivity, anemia, etc.

Biofeedback therapy makes patients aware of previously unconscious actions such as responses to pain or panic
Benefits:
- Less painful and invasive
- Patients are not reliant on drugs
Examples:
- Yoga
- Meditation

Amputation - the surgical procedure of removing a limb
- Typically happens when chemotherapy and radiation fail
Prosthetics
- Prosthetics have advanced throughout history to become more responsive to the patient’s wishes

Therapy used to accommodate patients to life without previous limbs
Involves strengthening what’s left of the limb
Physical therapists build strength in gross and fine skills
- Gross skills - broader range of movements
- Fine skills - small and concentrated range of movement (writing)
Occupational therapists help patients relearn daily activities
- Ex: how to zip a jacket up