To clean the teeth and calm the mouth, the patient should be instructed to use a soft-bristle toothbrush and salt water (one-half teaspoon salt to four cups of water). Standard mouthwash will aggravate the mouth. Lidocaine mouthwash should not be used to brush teeth; instead, it should be swished about the mouth to relieve discomfort. Ice chips or Popsicles may also provide relief for patients, though some may also require painkillers. Gelclair and "magic mouthwash" can both be recommended to treat mouth pain.
Dexamethasone is frequently used to lower elevated intracranial pressure brought on by brain radiation therapy. Dexamethasone and other glucocorticoids serve to lessen cerebral edema, which in turn lessens headache, nausea, vomiting, and anorexia. However, because glucocorticoids are linked to a number of negative side effects, patients may be given histamine H2 antagonists to lessen GI side effects. Dexamethasone side effects frequently include greater weakness and an increased risk of infection, as well as steroid myopathy.
The state board of nursing and Nurse Practice Act specify the nurse's area of practice. Those who have completed extra coursework and attained certification with a national certifying body, such as the American Nurses Credentialing Center, are eligible for certification, such as in pediatric oncology. Although they may contribute to the development of standards, the American Nurses Association and the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners lack the legal authority to define the scope of practice.
Treatment with anthracyclines in childhood is strongly linked to cardiotoxicity, the emergence of heart failure, pericarditis, and cardiomyopathy, particularly the latter. Cardiomyopathy can develop suddenly or slowly over many years. Excessive exertion or pregnancy may set it off. Risk goes up if the patient underwent treatment while they were young, received more chemotherapy, had hypokalemia, and had hypomagnesemia. Males are less at danger than females are. Radiation therapy is more closely associated to pericarditis and myocardial infarction.
Fertile Hope, a nonprofit initiative created in collaboration with the LIVESTRONG Foundation, is the online resource that offers reproductive information to cancer patients and survivors. The program offers financial support for procedures including sperm banking, embryo freezing, and in vitro fertilization in addition to information on fertility preservation. Chemotherapy and radiation therapy both increase the risk of infertility.
Most boys who are 15 years old can ejaculate, and studies have shown that the quality of teenage semen is identical to that of adult males, making sperm banking the preferred alternative. Male hormone therapy has not proved effective in reducing treatment-induced infertility in men. For pre-pubertal males, testicular biopsy has occasionally been utilized in the hopes of restoring fertility in the future. Keeping quiet is not a workable solution.
The youngster should consume low carbohydrate foods over the preceding 12 hours in order to prepare for a PET scan. A high-carbohydrate diet or receiving glucose intravenously (IV) could cause false-positive results. Prior to the test, patients must fast for six hours. Depending on the organ being scanned, the radioactive tracer used in the PET scan may be given orally, intravenously, or both. Because the tracer builds up in regions with a high level of chemical activity, such tumors, PET scans can detect malignancies.
