Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Chemotherapy Issues

Mom went and met with the chemotherapy doctor on Monday, and she learned that they want to do radiation and chemotherapy at the same time. The doctor likened radiation to a "blowtorch" and chemo to "adding fuel" to the blowtorch.
The only problem is that chemo could case some irreparable damages to other parts of my mom. For those of you who don't know, my mom has only one working kidney, and if she chose to pursue chemotherapy, there is a strong chance she could lose her kidney and other effects could include becoming deaf or blind, to name just a few.
As can be expected, this news was shocking. The family has discussed the possible ramifications of pursuing chemo, and we have decided that the benefits are far outweighed by the risks. Yes, the cancer may be gone, but my mom would likely have to be on dialysis for the rest of her life.
Mom will be continuing with her radiation, and we definitely need your help if you are able to get her to and from the hospital or check on her if needed.
She is definitely requesting your prayers and appreciates all you have done on her behalf.
Blessings,
Kate

1 comment:

  1. I'm glad you aren't jumping into chemo without thinking about it. Chemo is poison and taking poison isn't good for you - and radiation is probably what caused the cancer. It may be the best solution for your mom; but a second and third oppinion from people who don't profit from selling expensive treatments might be a good idea. I was just reading in a recent medical publication:

    "While the use of aggressive chemotherapy has drastically improved the prognosis of osteosarcoma patients...less toxic treatments using peptides, cytokines and dendritic cells have been performed. Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes and some tumor antigens have been identified in osteosarcoma and resulted in an important breakthrough in cellular immunotherapy. Also, RANKL/RANK/OPG, the key regulator of bone metabolism, is a hot spot in this field as therapeutic tools. Immunotherapy for osteosarcomas has great potential, promising improvement in the survival rate and better quality of life for the patients."

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