-here are many different combinations of chemicals used in chemotherapy. Do you know what drugs he's going to be given?

-http://www.cancerhelp.org.uk/help/default.asp?page=176 Chemotherapy does not cause side effects in everyone. It causes different reactions in different people. Remember - almost all side effects are temporary. They will slowly disappear once your treatment stops. This section looks at specific side effects and how to deal with them. It includes

Chemotherapy side effects in general Chemotherapy side effects: fatigue Chemotherapy side effects: Your digestive system Chemotherapy side effects: Your mouth Chemotherapy side effects: Your hair and skin Chemotherapy side effects: Your blood and bone marrow Questions for your doctor about the side effects of chemotherapy drugs

-I had Stage III rectal cancer two years ago. I went through surgery, radiation therapy and chemotherapy. The chemotherapy involved injection of chemo agents for 5 days, then stop for 3 weeks, and repeat for 6 months. The side effects of chemotherapy was vomitting, hair loss, diarhhea, etc. At that time, the nurse recommended that I took L-Lysine before the treatment to reduce side effects.

Being a chemist in training, I started wondering why L-Lysine (an amino acid) would reduce the side effects of chemotherapy. In biochemistry, human proteins are made of amino acids, so cancer cells are also made of amino acids. I had a theory: Since L-Lysine ia an amino acid, it would chemically react and neutralize the chemotherapy agents. It is like anti-missile missile. If this theory is true, there will be less chemotherapy agents in the body to kill the cancer cells because some of the chemotherapy agents will be neutralize and become ineffective by L-Lysine. As a result, of course, it will reduce the side effects of the chemotherapy agents. But the net effect is that the patients receive less concentration and less cure potency than originally planned. No body looks forward to another round of chemtherapy, so what you get this time is possibly what you will get for this cure cycle. If people neutralize the chemotherapy agents without knowing the after effects, ie, less treatment due to partial neutralization, then it will be not good.

So I made a painful decision not to take L-Lysine as recommended by the nurse. I had more pronouced side effects, but I was determined to struggle through the treatment. I had sever hair loss, diarhhrea, vomitting. The last day of the treatment I could not take it anymore (uncontrollable vomitting) and did not go through with it. During the treatment cycle, I had that severe blisters in the mouth and rectal areas. It was painful, but it also gave me comfort and assurance that the chemotherapy agents were indeed killing cells.

I have recovered from the cancer surgery, and the treatments. I am working
10-12 hours again every day. (I should take more leisure, but I have so much to do in my daily life. This is nothing to be proud of. I wish that I can take vacation more often.) I am glad that I did what I did with chemotherapy. In a way, I feel that I have let the chemotherapy agents maximixe their killing power to the cancer cells. So I am writing this to share my thoughts. Many publications and advices fouces on how to reduce the side effects of chemotherapy agents. I happen to think the other way. I may be right, or I may be wrong. Only God knows whether I am truly right or wrong on this issue. So for all of you who are suffering from the the anxiety of cancer treatment, this information is for your reference only. Please make your own decision. It is an unknown risk either way. I wish you the best!