Chemo with a Twist

My BC friend A told me about an article in the Edmonton Journal article entitled, ‘Home Chemotherapy Eases Patients' Anxiety’ where you can have chemo at home. Here is an excerpt from the article …

In February 2009, Dr. Karen King, an oncologist at the Cross Cancer Institute, launched a one-year pilot project to test how patients did after getting chemotherapy treatment while they sat on their own couches or armchairs. Australia has an established program of home chemo and it's also offered in the United Kingdom and France. While there are no rigorous studies on such programs to statistically show patients live longer or do better, researchers have found patients typically want to stay home where they feel much more safe and comfortable.

I guess some of the advantages of having chemo at home include: avoiding some of the anxiety or gastric issues associated with going in for treatment, not having to worry about someone driving you back and forth to the appointment, not having to travel while you are experiencing the ill effects of the chemo and finally, just being home to hold the fort, to take care of children and other family duties.

I had my regular chemo infusion yesterday and I prefer to have it at a medical facility. Go in, get it done and go home. I am fortunate to be in a situation where that works best for me… however, I can certainly understand how under different circumstances I might see it differently.