Risks Versus Benefits
It is difficult enough to deal with the emotional impact of a cancer diagnosis without having to learn a whole new language and to make difficult decisions that affect our health and our future, but that is what cancer forces us to do. Additionally, different doctors have different philosophies about treatment and it is up to each one of us to decide which is best for us. Sometimes that means getting two, or even three or four, opinions. And it means sifting through the information to make an informed decision.
One important aspect of making a treatment decision is weighing the risks and the benefits, and it may be helpful to gather as much information as you can before you have this discussion with your doctor. The FDA has information about most drugs on its website at www.fda.gov. It takes a little clicking through their site to find it, but on the left side of home page, you can click on "Drugs" which will take you to another page. At the center of that one, you can click on "Safety Information for Specific Drugs," which will take you to a yet another page. I found that most of the cancer drugs were not listed there, but could be found by clicking "Drugs@FDA.gov" (I couldn't get this to open simply by using this address) and there you will find a list of drugs alphabetically.
The information you will find is quite scientific, but it does include safety information and precautions, and even for non-scientific people like me, there is enough understandable information to have a more meaningful discussion with your oncologist.
There is no treatment that comes without risk, and that includes many common over-the-counter medications, but understanding the risks versus the benefits is helpful in making informed choices about treatment. Ultimately, you are the only one who can consent to any particular treatment, and having a voice in deciding which one may help your outlook, at least a little - and we all need that from every source we can find.
Betsy