Are there that many people that are afraid of going through cancer treatments/

JustGrateful

As I browse around researching my cancer I see post after post where people are always asking if anyone has survived without treatment, or did you have chemo and no radiation or vice/versa, or what "natural Methods" did you use to beat cancer?
It seems to me that these people are more afraid of the treatment than the disease. What do you think? Anyone here in this category of people that didn't want the treatment?

po18guy

I have also interacted with some who think thus. Not me! Keeping the enemy always in mind, whatever treatment is offered is one's best bet against the disease. Having received a fair amount of treatment, I do not fear treatment. I have found that much of the fear is based on horribly outdated information, and often is based on a single example they have seen. As well, rumors and even worse are seen.

GregP_WN

I have heard more of these stories from people that have never been through any kind of treatment than I have from people that have actually been through treatment. About how "It's not the cancer that kills you, it's the treatments". Or the burning you to death or poisoning to death.

ChildOfGod4570

Oh, I have heard all those things like the cancer doesn't kill you; it's the chemo for example. I think people, having seen movies/TV shows or having read books see the one size fits all cancer treatments with the character almost always as hairless as Uncle Fester either crying in bed or hugging the toilet. When the diagnosis comes to real life, people want to do research before seeing the doctor. Sometimes this is fodder for questions to ask, but there is so much out there for or against treatments that patients often become afraid of not only the side effects suffered by the characters they see in books or media, but they're frightened by side effects they didn't even know were possible! Cancer treatments can be very daunting when you have never been through it before. It's bad enough when you know what is coming, but the unknown makes it worse. Let me site something that happened to me. I read one website where someone reported chemo caused severe infections in the person's mouth and tongue. When thrush came my way, I, not being able to see but only going by feel, panicked, thinking the chemo was literally eating away at my tongue! When I went in to see the chemo nurse, I stuck out my tongue, and she said without skipping a beat, "thrush". She explained it was easily treatable and even babies could get it. what a relief that was that my tongue wasn't getting eaten away from the chemo. Just goes to show how the unknown can make anticipation of treatment even worse than the treatment itself. HUGS and God bless.

Molly72

I have had 3 major cancers & numerous skin cancers. All were removed by surgery, no chemo or radiation. The skin cancers were removed by Moh's surgery.

If it comes back again, I would not subject myself to chemo or radiation- just have a fear of those methods & I am too old & tired to put up with such radical methods-- like surgery isn't radical-LOL!

LiveWithCancer

I watched my 48-year-old dad go from a healthy, vibrant man to a shell in 6 months. Much of that 6 months was absolutely terrible for him because he was undergoing chemotherapy and radiation during it. The radiation didn't bother him (that I knew of), but the chemo was horrid for him. Horrid. I said from the time I was 20 until I was diagnosed with the exact same cancer as killed him that I would do radiation if I was ever diagnosed with cancer, but that I would never, ever, EVER do chemo. It just wasn't worth it, based on what I saw.

When I went for my first visit with an oncologist, I was told that my cancer was too advanced for radiation or surgery and that my treatment would be chemotherapy. I said, "OK." Sometimes, a person has to eat their words and I ate a bellyful of them. Chemo was a horrible experience for me, but I am still here and chemo was only a small part of my survival story (now, immunotherapy, that's a different story - it was a HUGE part of my story.)

Bug

I know several people who say they will never do chemo. I think one has to wait and see once they are in those shoes.

ChildOfGod4570

Yes, that was me. Before cancer, I swore with uplifted hand I would refuse chemo. Unfortunately, my oncologist gave me no choice and told me I was to have chemo before they would even remove the cancer for fear of roague cells floating about and forming new tumors. I still hated chemo but had to take it if I wanted to have the surgery. HUGS and God bless.