Calling all flight attendants, pilots, aircrew ...

seeclearly

Hi everyone. I'm sure there are many of you aircrew out there, but I couldn't find you! So I've started this topic to try to find others with the same concerns I have. I am new to all of this. I just received my final diagnosis from my excisional biopsy/lumpectomy yesterday. I have (had) DCIS with a 2mm (micro)invasion (some places say 1mm is microinvasion; my doctor called unifocal, <2mm a microinvasion). The lumpectomy got all the suspicious tissue with clean margins (5 mm and 6 mm!)

I did not have an SNB, and my doctor is OK with not having one, as she is calling my cancer a "microinvasion." I worry about lymphedema, especially as my workplace is in the air. I can easily live with not knowing if it spread to the lymph nodes.

I have been flying since 1988 (30 years! yikes!) and 24 of those years have been with the commercial airlines. I am 55 years old at the time of dx (now).

I am wondering if any of you have gone back to flying, and if you have suffered any ill effects as a result of flying? What treatments are you doing and how does it affect you in the air?

For any U.S. pilots, how difficult was it for you to be approved by the FAA to take to the skies again?

As I'm sure all of you know who are here on this site, we in the air have higher rates of cancer. Here are some factoids from livescience related to aircrew, dated June 25, 2018.

"The researchers found that in female flight attendants, the rates of breast cancer were about 50 percent higher than in women from the general population."

"a known carcinogen is "cosmic ionizing radiation, which is elevated at higher altitudes"

"Air cabin crews receive the highest yearly dose of ionizing radiation on the job of all U.S. workers"

"Other chemical contaminants found in the cabin may include engine leakages, pesticides and flame retardants, which contain compounds that may act as hormone disruptors and increase the risk of some cancers"

https://www.livescience.com/62913-cancer-risk-flig...

Another article from webmd suggested the radiation is more dependent on the route than on the altitude:

"one leading factor may be higher levels of radiation that result from flying specific routes -- and not necessarily at a higher altitude"

https://www.webmd.com/breast-cancer/news/20031021/...

"In an accompanying editorial, Elizabeth Whelan, ScD, MPH, of the CDC, notes that ionizing radiation exposure has increased for today's flight crews, since newer planes fly for longer periods. But she writes that other factors, such as irregular working hours that disrupt circadian rhythms, or sleep/wake cycles, could also predispose flight crews to these diseases."

None of this is a newsflash. It's no secret we are exposed to more radiation and irregular schedules and disruption to circadian rhythm than the average person.

I'm just hoping to discuss these concerns specific to us with other people in the same boat (plane).

Looking forward to meeting you!