Within the cancer and medical community there is a constant debate on whether chemotherapy, one of the top aids in becoming cancer free, is doing more harm to patients than good. There are many conflicting views towards this drug. Doctors and, especially, patients argue that the brutal side effects, that are a byproduct of chemo, are too much for the patients to handle and may even result in death. The side effects can range from the uncomfortable nausea to a  terrifying mental haze called “Chemo Brain” and a multitude of others. However, most oncologist will argue that chemotherapy is imperative to becoming cancer free. To a cancer patient, the choice of chemotherapy treatment is overwhelming because they must decide whether or not they are not only physically ready to begin their fight, but also mentally and emotionally. Overcoming cancer is frequently referred to as a fight for a reason. Chemotherapy treatments are by no means an easy regimen to undergo. The constant debate on whether or not the drug Chemotherapy is worth the overall impact on the patients lives, is constant throughout the medical and cancer community and within the lives of cancer patients. I have found throughout extensive research and personal experience, that although Chemotherapy is the leading “cure” for cancer, it has the potential to make most patients too ill to even enjoy life and may even result in death.

In order to be able to discuss chemotherapy as a treatment, it is important to understand the disease, cancer, and how it affects the body. According to the article, What is Cancer? published by the American Cancer Society, cancer is when the cells within the body begin to grow out of control. The violent and unstoppable growth of cells can start anywhere within the body; bone, liver, kidney, breast, and even blood just to name a few. Cancer is not just one disease. There are multiple types and each case is just as unique as the patient. The way each cancer spreads, or metastasizes, can change how the disease is labeled and the course of treatment for the patient. If there is little to no metastasis, than is called stage 1 or 2 cancer. If it metastasis further within the body, it is referred to as stage 3 or 4, stage 4 being the highest. Treatment options are generally surgery, to physically cut out the cancer, radiation, to essentially burn and shrink the cancer, chemotherapy, to kill the cancer, or a combination of the three. The treatment plans are used to eliminate any sign of the disease. There is no known cure to cancer, instead a patient can show no signs of cancer. This is called remission. Unfortunately not all cases go into remission and some patients lose the battle to cancer. One out of every four deaths in the United States is related to cancer as stated in Cancer Statistics, 2008. Nowadays, there seems to be a rapid growth in the amount of new cases. There is a rough estimate that 1,437,180 new cases will be reported a year and 565,650 deaths due to cancer. Although the number of deaths seems to be astonishing, there has been a decrease in the number of cancer related deaths since 1990. In people younger than 85 years old, this disease accounts for more deaths than heart disease. With no true cure, this disease’s rapid expansion is something that effects all of our lives. Whether is a parent, relative, friend, or neighbor, we all know somebody who's been affected by cancer. 

The drug chemotherapy is one of the most well known medications within the medical community. As stated by the article What is Chemotherapy, there are over hundred chemotherapy drugs in use. Each variation fights against the disease in a different way. The drug is notorious for it’s ability to eliminate any sign of cancer with the body. Chemotherapy fights to combat the rapid production of cells by targeting cells during the cell cycle. The drug cannot distinguish between healthy cells and cancer ridden cells, so when the healthy cells get damaged by chemotherapy it can cause side effects. There is a myth that chemotherapy can cure cancer. This, unfortunately, is not true because there is no known cure to cancer. However, chemotherapy does have the power to remove any evidence of cancer thought the body, but does not guarantee it will not come back. Receiving the medication can be exceptionally expensive. The price of chemotherapy can vary due to the type of cancer, the version of the drug being used, where and how it is being administered, and what type of insurance the patient has. According to How Much Does Chemotherapy Cost? an article that breaks down the financials of chemo, the drug can cost anywhere from $100-$65,000 a month. 

Using Chemotherapy as a treatment for cancer comes with numerous positive ramifications and various trying consequences. If the option presents itself, there are a multitude of reasons to chose to undergo chemotherapy treatments. The article 13 Pros and Cons of Chemotherapy list of few of the major justifications on why to choose the drug treatments. Most importantly, and the greatest outcome to come from chemo is that it has to possibility to remove any trace of cancer throughout the body. This will put the patient into remission and they will be considered “cancer free”. It saves the lives of people who are diagnosed with disease that most people associate with death. This means people do not have to lose their parent, grandparent, sibling, neighbor, friend, or loved one. Chemotherapy increases the survival chances, especially in cases where the cancer is persistent and keeps recurring. In cases where the patient is terminally ill, the drug can provide these patients with more time to fulfill their wishes and desires before the disease claims them. The fact that chemotherapy can cause harsh side effects cannot be neglected however, it is important to remember that although they are unpleasant, they must be weighted against the need to kill the cancer cells. It can be considered as a necessary evil. Although it has its obstacles, chemotherapy can be considered a necessary Each of these positive aspects that chemotherapy can provide are extremely impactful and essentially life changing to each of the cancer patients. 

On the other hand, while chemotherapy saves lives, it also comes with a lot of unwanted consequences, some of which could be too much for a person to withstand. According to 13 Pros and Cons of Chemotherapy, chemo treatments may be ineffective for some patients. There is no guarantee that the treatments will work and the patients might be subjected to the harsh treatments for no reason. Patients who decide against cancer generally avoid it because the possible side effects are too severe. They can present as fatigue, infection as a result of lowered white blood cells, nausea/vomiting, muscle aches and pains, color change in skin and nails, constipation and diarrhea. The more harsh side effects can be mouth, throat, and tongue sores, mood changes, chemobrain and hair loss. Everyone can struggle with their hair falling out, however for women this side effect is particularly difficult because hair is apart of a person’s identity and it can feel as if they are losing a part of themselves which is emotionally draining. The drug itself however, can also cause death. Chemotherapy is a essentially a poison going into the body to kill off all cells, not just cancer cells. Some patients’ bodies cannot endure the treatments and they pass away as a result. Overall, the daily life of a cancer patient is intensely impacted. Normalities like eating, sleeping, and exercising may be disturbed. Having a family member undergo chemotherapy treatments can put a great deal of stress on the family as well. There is also a financial burden, especially if the patient does not have health insurance, because the cost of treatments can be extremely expensive. As stated in Saying No to Chemotherapy, the author, Des Spence, mentions that doctors have a tendency to over diagnose and over treat cancer patients. They, alongside family members,  need to feel like they are doing something, anything to help the patient cure their cancer, even if the drug itself can result in death. He notes that chemotherapy is not always the answer when it comes to cancer, there are other options like surgery and radiation. Even though chemotherapy is the prominent treatment in the fight against cancer, it is not right for everyone and some patients decide to forego treatment because the side effects, family burden, and daily impact outweighs the positives to the drug. 

There is a phenomenon about a certain side effect that chemotherapy called “chemobrain”. According to the article, The Fog That Follows Chemotherapy, nearly every chemo patient experience some amount of difficulty with memory and concentration. However, this side effect has intensified and prolonged symptoms. Symptoms include inability to focus on anything complex, inability to retain information, difficulty retrieving words and/or mixing them up, difficulty analyzing, and an inability to follow instructions. Barbara Wick told her experience with the side effect in the article and described chemobrain “as if a feature has been removed from my brain”. This symptoms is as if a portion of the brain is not functioning. For years, this mental fogginess was denied by medical professionals, now they're recognizing that there is a widespread of patients who present with this specific side effect. Doctors are still not sure what exactly is causing chemobrain to happen. However, this extreme side effect is frightening to people who experience it and it can potentially prevent people from receiving chemotherapy treatments. 

Nowadays, it seem like everyone has a link to cancer. Whether its is a parent, relative, friend, or neighbor, or maybe even the constant exposure within the media, cancer has entangled itself in our daily lives. For me, my connection is my mom. One Friday afternoon in October 2014, we were told that my mom was diagnoses with stage 2 breast cancer that metastasized to her lymph nodes and our world was shaken at its core. For her, chemotherapy was not even a question because she knew that it is was going to save her life and she was ready to fight. However, her battle was by no means easy and we, as a family, faced many obstacles. The first was two weeks after she began her “red devil” chemotherapy treatments, a nickname give to a form of the drug called Adriamycin which is one of the most powerful versions of chemotherapy available. It was the morning the her hair fell out. There is nothing that can prepare someone to wake up to a clump of their own hair lying on the pillow next to them. It took an emotional tole on her that was unseen and unexpected. Next came her side effects. She faced throat and mouth sores, fatigue, nausea, neuropathy (tingling) of fingers, dry mouth, thrush, achy joints, during veins in her arms, foggy thinking, confusion, muscle spasms, anxiety, and physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion, just to name a few. It took a while for the doctors to get a grasp on her side effects and help ease her discomfort a little bit, although there is not a lot they can do. Around December, the dreaded chemobrain set in and the smiling, giggly, upbeat, positive mom that I knew was gone and in her place was someone I barely recognized. It was if she was in a constant daze. One event that really stood out to me is when I would come home from school and, like usual, she would ask “how was your day?”. I would respond and a minute or two later she would re-ask her question because she had no recollection of our prior conversation. Again, I would respond and she would re-ask the question one more time and then she would comprehend what I was saying. This happened on multiple occasions. She also has a difficult time remembering what happened during those months, but she says it is a good thing because she would rather forget it anyways. Chemobrain was definitely one of the more difficult obstacles to overcome. After my mom was finished with her chemotherapy,  she went though with the rest of her treatment plan. Six months of chemotherapy, thirty radiation treatments, four surgeries, and two and a half years later, she is officially cancer free. Although my mom definitely faced her share of hardships during chemotherapy, she knew she needed the persevere through it because it was necessary for her survival. Through this experience, I was able to see first hand the brutal side effects that chemotherapy encompasses. It opened my eyes and made me realize that the scary and extensive list of side effects that we constantly hear about on the media, are actually true and they can happen to anyone. 

Deciding whether or not chemotherapy is doing more harm than good when it comes to treating cancer patients, is difficult for many medical professionals to pick a side. There is a paradox that surrounds chemotherapy. It seems self-contradictory that the one thing that is curing patients, chemotherapy, is also making them ill. In order to get better from the cancer, the chemotherapy is going to make the patients so sick that some of them might even be on the brink of death from the toxicity of the drugs and effects it has on the body. Unfortunately, sometimes the drugs are too much for the patients body to endure. The one thing that is saving the cancer patient’s lives could also kill them. Cancer is a fast and rapid growth of cells and without the treatment necessary, the cancer would spread to the point where it takes over the body. Eventually the patient will lose their battle to cancer. It is a contradiction that a drug that is imperative to the survival of some patients, can also be an earth shattering, detrimental, deadly necessity for others. 

Throughout the medical and cancer communities, there has been debate over the use of chemotherapy and it’s use in the fight against cancer. The drug is known as one the prominent aids in cancer patients becoming cancer free. Cancer’s quick and speedy expansion throughout the body is why it is one of the leading causes of death in the United States. Chemotherapy targets the cells within the body to stop them from growing. However, it’s target cells are not just limited to the cancer cells. Any cell within the body has the potential to be attacked and killed off from chemotherapy. When enough normal cells are destroyed, the infamous side effects associated with cancer set in. Some patients and doctors consider the risks of chemotherapy, side effects, change of ineffectiveness, chemobrain, and chance of death, to be too much on the body. They argue that there are other options to be considered before making a decision on where or not to choose chemotherapy as a treatment plan. Radiation and surgery are available as options as well. Nowadays, it seems that everyone has some type of connection to cancer. I was able to see first hand the harsh repercussion of chemotherapy treatment when my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer, which opened my eyes to a new world of chemotherapy. The paradox surrounding chemotherapy makes choosing whether it is worth the obstacles not, extremely difficult. It is challenging to understand how a drug that can essentially get rid of cancer in one person, can be the eventual demise of another. 
