Infusion Center: Quality of Life
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How does your care team help you manage chemotherapy side effects?
According to Stallings, the most common questions patients have when they arrive at the Infusion Center are: "What kind of chemotherapy am I having?," "Will it make me sick?," and "How long am I going to be here?" In response to these concerns, Stallings says: “We try to address these issues first. We will explain in great detail what they are receiving, how long it will take, the possible side effects, and so on. We try to make them as comfortable as possible.”
Although everyone experiences symptoms differently, some of the potential side effects of chemotherapy include nausea and/or vomiting, fatigue, sore mouth, diarrhea, and constipation. We understand these side effects can influence your ability to tolerate treatments, maintain a healthy diet, stay active, and enjoy a good quality of life.
Using an integrative approach, your care team at Eastern uses multiple measures to combat side effects. Prior to receiving chemotherapy, your infusion nurses will provide pre-medications (prescribed by your medical oncologist) to help reduce nausea.
In addition, you will also receive an array of complementary medicine therapies. “We have to work closely with all of the departments to get what we need for our patients while they are here. Depending on what the patient wants, we can call anybody we need. They will come up and see the patients while they are getting their infusion,” says Rudzinski.
For instance, while visiting the Infusion Center, you may decide to meet with a nutritionist, naturopathic clinician, or acupuncturist, among others. These clinicians can help by providing specific therapies to curb nausea and other symptoms.
“We look at the patient as a whole. Our clinicians also look at the psychosocial issues—which do play a part in how you feel—versus other institutions that only look at numbers. I think treating someone as a whole individual makes a huge difference,” says Stallings.