I caught a damn cold!

They have been telling me all along about how chemotherapy suppresses the immune system and to be careful. I made it through 5 rounds of chemo without even a sniffle but finish round 6 of chemo and wham, I caught a damn cold somewhere. During treatment for cancer, there are times when the body will not be able to protect you as well. While your immune system is recovering, you may be told to try to avoid being exposed to possible infection-causing germs. Cancer and its treatment weaken the body's immune system by affecting the blood cells that protect us against disease and germs. As a result, your body cannot fight infection, foreign substances, and disease as well as a healthy person’s body can.

The immune system comprised from immune cells, like white blood cells, antibodies and other substances that fight against microbes and thus defend us against infections. People with chronic diseases, like diabetes or cancer, or those exhausted from long lasting hard work, starvation or psychological stress may also have lowered immunity and therefore frequent infections. So, now I feel like shit because of this cold, not because of chemo!

Then, as I was messing around on the Internet, I discovered this interesting news: The common cold may do more than just bring on a nagging case of the sniffles. Researchers at Saint Louis University School of Medicine have discovered that a genetically modified version of the adenovirus, one of 200 viruses that cause colds, may work to attack and destroy cancer tumors. In lab tests, when the live virus was injected directly into a tumor, it worked to destroy cancer cells, apparently without seeming to affect healthy cells. Researchers speculate that, unlike chemotherapy and radiation, cold-virus treatment may have no significant side effects -- not even a cold. That's because the virus remains in the tumor and does not travel to the respiratory tract, says lead researcher William S.M. Wold, PhD, chairman of the department of molecular microbiology and immunology. The therapy is expected to go into clinical trials next. If it's proven safe and effective, it could become a treatment option for any type of cancerous tumor within a few years. Too bad they didn't discover this sooner!