9 myths about chemotherapy explained

3. Chemo is painful
Dr. Shepard encounters many patients who are afraid of the pain they believe chemo will cause. This is one of chemotherapy's most pervasive and inaccurate myths. "The therapy is almost never at all painful," she says. Although, as we have already noted, there are side effects, chemotherapy drugs have advanced so significantly that most patients will be treated on an outpatient basis, and are rarely admitted to hospital for an overnight stay. "Twenty-five years ago, patients would stay for two or three days following a chemo cycle," explains Stewart. "The quality of people's lives while on treatment has improved dramatically." Chemo may have its drawbacks, but pain simply is not one of them.

4. Chemo causes unbearable nausea
"Patients are very, very afraid [of nausea]," notes Dr. Shepard. While nausea can be a problem for some people, it has been limited as a major side effect in the past several years. We are now at the point where illness and nausea is a rarity. New agents such as the anti-nausea drugs Zofron and Kytril are able to very effectively control the symptoms of nausea and allow patients to leave the hospital almost directly after treatment, where previously they would require several days of recovery time. Some chemo drugs are so efficient almost no nausea is experienced. Specialists also recommend that patients eat numerous small snacks throughout the day, rather than three big meals, to counter small bouts of queasiness.

5. Immunity is compromised during chemo
Dr. Shepard notes that a great number of her patients assume their immune systems are severely compromised during treatment, and that they are in great danger from a variety of infections. "From a medical point of view, there is a reduction in the white blood cell count [during treatment]," observes Dr. Shepard. This reduction, however, is not significant enough, nor does it occur for a long enough period of time, to put a patient at a greater risk of viral infections or fevers. The drugs are powerful, and the patient may feel their effects by becoming more fatigued or lethargic than usual, but there is no hard science or data suggesting that chemotherapy weakens the immune system significantly, leading to more viral infections in patients than in the general population.