Radiation Therapy Disasters We Do Not Hear About

Article from today's NY Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/24/health/24radiation.html?th&emc=th

 

Given that a bunch of us are trying to decide which fork in the road to take, this has to be one of the most horrifying articles I've read in a while.

As I shiver, thanks for pointing this out.

Oh my...
I wish there was a way for patients to check what they are getting. You can't weigh it, you can't read the label on the IV bag, you can't take its temperature. You just go on faith that the tech set it up correctly.
Scary. Thank for the warning.
Jeff

Hey Purg,

I've got to believe that for every one of these horror stories, there are hundreds of successes.

I'm definitely not afraid of success ;-}

Hope you are doing well.

Interesting article; it points out the dangers of all medical procedures that we are rarely aware of. There have been septic infections and uncontrollable bleeding from simple biopsies. My neighbor had the wrong kidney removed and my hospital roommate had a cast put on his lower arm when his upper arm was broken. He needed a pin to fix the mistake. I believe there are many more serious medical mistakes in all areas than we know about. The biggest risk of going into a hospital today is getting a septic infection that is antibiotic resistant.
JohnT

In this reply, I should first note that far MORE radiation cases have been SUCCESSFUL than have had such dreadful outcomes as described in the sampling from this article. Radiation treatment has been a blessing to many people with many DIFFERENT types of cancer.

At the same time, no telling how many of the undetected/unreported mistakes are the root cause of the occurrence of secondary cancers which arise a decade later, or two decades later.

In the case of prostate cancer, for the likely organ-confined cases, this is the primary reason I believe that radiation (any type; photon, proton, seeds) is NOT the best choice if your age starts with a "5" or a "4", and still only a marginal choice if your age starts with a "6". Not because of the horrors described in this article, but because of the secondary cancers, of which many could very likely be caused by the undetected/unreported errors, but others we know just occur because radiation is radiation.

Peace

 ....Think i'll not let myself open that link.

magaboo,

your point is well said and understood. however, your current string of zero psa is pretty good, and a good omen so far.

david in sc

I hope I get the chance, magaboo

jerry, just keep on plugging away at your treatments, its still you best shot at a curative move on your end. Most of those bad cases are more about malpractice, not the actual method of radiation itsef. At my clinic, they had so many checks and balances in place, so that nothing like that could happen. you are doing fine, brother.

david in sc

It is Jerry, its like reading side effects on the side of a med bottle, if you actually read it all, you would never even take an aspirin, lol.

Each day before I was zapped, there was so much reduncency involved to make sure that the right patient was on the table, and that the right area was getting treated, an the correct daily gys were being administered per my specific treatment plan. Then it took 2 independent instant snap x-rays that were overlapped over both my original prostate bed x-rays, and the one from the previous day as well.

Again, my brother, you are doing the best thing for yourself right now, and you still may live to be 100 and laught about the fun days when we had radiation. Hang tough.

david in sc

Having watched my wife go through radiation for cancer treatment six years ago, that was one big reason why I opted for surgery.  Radiation is no walk in the park.

NewsPaper Lover

 

Age 66

PSA:  6.0  on 07/31/09 having risen from 4.2 on 12/02/08.  Free PSA 23.5%.Other PSA History: 4.3 on 05/01/08; 3.3 on 11/15/07; 3.1 on 05/20/07; 4.0 on 11/30/06; 3.40 on 09/01/05.

 

Biopsy:  09/04/09  13 snips;  two positive.  Right Mid  4+3 = 7 and 15% of the total volume.   Right Lateral Mid 4+3 = 7 and 20% of the total volume.

 

DaVinci robotic surgery:  11/05/09.  Post surgery pathology:  margins clean, no invasion of seminal vessels, no upgrade of the Gleason scores, no evidence of cancer outside the prostate capsule.

 

Cathether removed one week later:  11/12/09.  No incontinence.

 

 

These stories are horrifying. While I believe they don't represent the majority of all RT procedures which have measurable successes, considering individual circumstances, this does happen. Sometimes, you know of someone that has had a bad experience...

A very good friend of mine passed away due to (metastasis of) squamous cell carcinoma in his left sinus cavity...not too long ago.

For him, it started out as a consistently stuffed up sinus. After some time, and I think it may have been too advanced by this time, the cancer was diagnosed. He underwent extensive RT treatment. They had to graft skin from his left arm to cover the damaged skin on the left side of his face. The RT was so aggressive that the bone mass around his left eye was softened and damaged, they had to remove his left eye. Subsequently, he lost all his teeth, had little salivary action and couldn't even eat properly. He suffered a great deal until his death. They suspect the initial treatments were mis-calibrated and delivered improperly. Not a great statement for his widow, children and grandchildren to hear.

We had known each other very well since we were 15. He stood up with me at my wedding.