Saturday, March 24, 2012

News flash - cancer treatment can cause long term side effects

Who knew? The poisons of chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery could have long term effects on a cancer person's body and health.

A growing population of cancer survivors faces an increased risk of radiation-related second malignancy and cardiovascular disease (CVD) for which little evidence-based clinical guidance has emerged, researchers found.

Gee whiz. I never would have thought what can cure me might kill me too. Any medical treatment you receive where either the nurses have to wear special gowns to handle the drugs before they are injected in your body or the technician has to leave the room you are stuck in during the zapping. No dangers there.

I had RAI treatment in 1981 where I was given radioactive iodine to dissolve the rest of my thyroid tissue. Now the standard is that you go into isolation for a few days so you don't contaminate others. Not me, I was out in the real world as radiation isotopes decayed inside me emitting my own little radiation waves.

I know people who have had chemo and then were diagnosed with leukemia or lymphoma. I know one person who was treated with radiation to the chest for Hodgkins and decades later died of breast cancer which she was told was a known long term side effect of her previous diagnosis.

Well we can worry about it all we want, along with the R-word, as we go from doctor to doctor hoping nothing new shows up.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I have radiation induced Angiosarcoma. If you've had radiation please be alert to skin thickening, color changes or texture changes, bruise like marks. These are generally morphological changes and benign, but not always. Most oncologists have never ever seen this. I want to educate, not alarm you all.

I Started a New Blog

I started this blog when I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007. Blogging really helped me cope with my cancer and its treatment. Howe...