Side effects of chemotherapy/radiotherapy on our children which doctors might not have explained

Hi all, this post is just to share with all of you about some of the many side effects of chemotherapy (chemo) and radiotherapy (RT) on our children. Banyak side effects kat sini yang doctor tak pernah explain to me or my hubby masa kitaorg buat chemo for Aisy... ni semua atas dasar usaha research sendiri dan bantuan daripada org2 yg tak dikenali yang share fakta2 ni.. sorry tapi mostly memang in English.. susah nak cari in bahasa..

Selalunya doctor or hospital selalu ceritakan side effects yang immediate, yang kita akan nampak semasa anak2 kita tengah buat chemo or RT.. macam rambut gugur, kulit jadi gelap, muntah2, ulcer, loya, darah merah turun, immune system turun dan mcm2 lagi.. itu yang selalunya akan jadi masa chemo or RT course dijalankan.. tapi ramai yang taktau atau tak diberitahu pasal long term effect pada anak kita.. saya cuma nak share sebab ilmu Allah ni luas dan saya rasa bertanggungjawab untuk berkongsi apa ilmu dan fakta yang saya dah come across.. ni semua saya copy from various websites.. you can do your own research.. ape yang saya kumpulkan ni is actually my own reference untuk aisy.. i try to highlight mana yang important to know if it is too long for u to read.. so please have a read to know more..demi anak kita..

1) Long-term outcomes

During and after cancer treatment, the main concerns for most families are the short- and long-term effects of the cancer and its treatment, and concerns about the cancer still being present or coming back.

It is certainly normal for families to want to put the cancer and its treatment behind them and to get back to a life that doesn’t revolve around the cancer. But it’s important to realise that close follow-up care is a central part of this process that offers children the best chance for recovery and long-term survival.

For many years after treatment, it is very important that children have regular follow-up exams with the cancer care team. As time goes by, the risk of the cancer coming back goes down, and doctor visits might be needed less often. But they are still important because SOME SIDE EFFECTS OF TREATMENT MIGHT NOT SHOW UP UNTIL YEARS LATER.

Because of major advances in treatment, more children treated for cancer are now surviving into adulthood. DOCTORS HAVE LEARNED THAT THE TREATMENT MAY AFFECT CHILDREN’S HEALTH LATER IN LIFE, so watching for health effects as they get older has become more of a concern in recent years.

Treating childhood cancer requires a much specialised approach, and so does the care and follow-up after treatment. The earlier any problems can be recognised, the more likely it is they can be treated effectively.

Childhood cancer survivors are at risk, to some degree, for several possible late effects of their cancer treatment. It’s important to discuss what these possible effects might be with your child’s medical team. The risks depend on a number of factors, such as the type of cancer, the specific cancer treatments used, doses of cancer treatment, and the child’s age at the time of treatment. Some of the MORE COMMON LATE EFFECTS OF CANCER TREATMENT INCLUDE:

- HEART OR LUNG PROBLEMS (due to certain chemotherapy drugs or radiation therapy)

- SLOWED OR DELAYED GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT (in the bones or overall)

- CHANGES IN SEXUAL DEVELOPMENT AND ABILITY TO HAVE CHILDREN

- LEARNING PROBLEMS

- INCREASED RISK OF OTHER CANCERS LATER IN LIFE

2) What causes late effects?

Late effects are CAUSED BY THE DAMAGE THAT CANCER TREATMENT DOES TO HEALTHY CELLS IN THE BODY. Most late effects are CAUSED BY CHEMOTHERAPY OR RADIATION. Major surgery can also lead to late effects.

Cancer treatments like radiation therapy or chemotherapy kill cells that grow quickly, such as cancer cells. But in a child, many healthy cells in organs throughout the body are growing fast, too. Treatment can damage these cells and keep them from growing and developing the way they should. Sometimes the damage from treatment isn’t serious enough to cause problems that are noticed right away, but they may show up over time.

Survival by Children’s Oncology Group risk group

Low-risk group: Children in the low-risk group have a 5-year survival rate that is higher than 95%.

Intermediate-risk group: In children in the intermediate-risk group, the 5-year survival rate is around 90% to 95%.

High-risk group: The 5-year survival rate in children in the high-risk group is around 40% to 50%. (We were told Aisy was in this group)

The overall 5 year survival rate for childhood cancer is 80%.  That is awesome.  But SURVIVAL COMES WITH A COST.  OVER 2/3 OF THOSE SURVIVORS HAVE AT LEAST ONE SERIOUS CHRONIC HEALTH CONDITION.  1/4 of those survivors face a late-effect from treatment that is CLASSIFIED AS SEVERE OR LIFE-THREATENING.

 

3) Incidence Childhood Cancer (globally)

)

 

160,000 new cases/year < 15 years of age. 

90,000 deaths/year < 15 years of age

 

(Ferlay J, IARC Cancer Base N°5, 2004)

 

4)

Although chemotherapy can be very effective, the success rate varies and in certain cancers can be as low as one per cent!

"A survey of 128 US cancer doctors found that if they contracted cancer, more than 80 per cent would NOT have chemotherapy"  

A survey of 128 US cancer doctors found that if they contracted cancer, more than 80 per cent would not have chemotherapy as the "risks and side effects far outweighed the likely benefits". 

You have to work out what´s best for you and your type and grade of cancer.

4) A review of chemotherapy on 5-year survival rates in Australia garnered almost identical results, with a 2.3 PERCENT SUCCESS RATE, compared to the U.S. 2.1 PERCENT RATE OF SUCCESS. 2% only?

(NaturalNews) Chemotherapy is one of three main treatment protocols of conventional medicine, one which millions of people worldwide have been put through. In fact, virtually all of us know someone who suffered and finally passed on after a futile course of chemotherapy prescribed by his or her doctor. 'Nothing more could be done anyway', we are often told. Lately, a recent study in Britain has raised serious questions about chemotherapy, in particular the role it plays in hastening and even causing the death of late-stage cancer sufferers.

Details and Findings of Study

The study had been carried out by the National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Deaths in Britain, whose members are mostly taken from British medical royal colleges. It had looked at the cases of 600 cancer sufferers in the country who had passed on within 30 days of treatment. The majority of the said patients had already been declared "incurable" by doctors, and had been put on chemotherapy for palliative purposes.

And the study found that ABOUT 1 IN EVERY 4 OF SUCH DEATHS HAD EITHER BEEN SPED UP OR EVEN CAUSEDBY CHEMOTHERAPY. The study's findings also included the discovery that 2 OUT OF EVERY 5 OF THE PATIENTS HAD SUFFERED SIGNIFICANT POISONING FROM THE TREATMENT.

Learn more:http://www.naturalnews.com/025499_cancer_chemotherapy_treatment.html#ixzz2xuR0sR4g

 

I’m sure some of the doctors who comes across this post of mine would flip.. but these facts are done with research on them.. there are some things they try to avoid telling patients because they do not want patients to worry more than they already have.. but we as parents of the patients, need to know the whole truth before we decide something or some kind of treatment for our children.. we deserve to know more.. it is our right to know from A-Z what the treatment can and will do to a person.. life is a precious thing and no one deserves to live more than another..