Doctors May Not Recognize Severity of Radiation Side Effects

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Doctors May Not Recognize Severity of Radiation Side Effects

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Doctors May Not Recognize Severity of Radiation Side Effects in Certain Breast Cancer Patients
December 18, 2020
It's common for doctors to fail to understand the severity of radiation therapy side effects in women treated with radiation after lumpectomy, especially younger women and Black women. Read more...

edj3

This is one of those "in other news, water is wet" studies. We know this already

flashlight

I agree with edj3. I'm not sure if you can put age or race as a factor, unless you are talking about longevity. I think they do know, but are reluctant to share because they want you to go forward with the treatment. My SNL'S mother just passed from ovarian cancer. Her first MO didn't give her all the facts and when asked why she said because I didn't want you to stop the treatment. I think this is the way oncologist have us move forward with treatment by not speaking all the truth.

BCat40

I had a waterworks catharsis after reading this study. 34.5% report substantial pain....When I reported pain to my RO I was told "people don't get pain" from radiation. It was also never mentioned as a side effect to me. My pain from radiation has been chronic, going on 6 months now. I emailed this study to my RO and told her that I believe pain should be discussed as a side effect up front so people can be mentally prepared for it. I was told about a .0001% chance of angiosarcoma but not about a 35% chance of pain.

gb2115

This abstract made me laugh. My RO, while apparently brilliant in her field, failed to acknowledge most of my side effects. I heard a lot of "that's impossible" regarding sore throat and nausea, as well as early pink inflammation that improved at the beginning. Meanwhile I have MO shaking her head, telling me everything is on par, acknowledging it was all from radiation and offering me nausea meds. When I had a mild sore throat Monday afternoon through early Saturday (rapidly improving over the weekend) for weeks on end, they kept saying I must have the flu. SMH.

Jelson

This is the part that sickens me "Compared to white women, Black women were 92% more likely and women of races other than Black or Asian were 82% more likely to have the severity of their symptom misunderstood."

BCat40

gb, I also was told "that's not from radiation" when I reported acid reflux which I never in my life experienced until I got on a radiation table. Luckily that side effect resolved quickly, unlike the pain. It seems ROs are the worst side effect deniers in the cancer care field.