lakeswim wrote:
Pray tell - what are the female anatomy side effects from radiation?
Thank you.
weisssoccermom wrote:This is my pet peeve. Most rad oncs will tell you that you likely will go into menopause due to radiation....that's pretty much a given (although my ovaries must be just outside of the radiation field...because I did NOT enter into menopause.) What the rad oncs and most oncs don't bother to mention is that your vaginal canal not only becomes very dry but the tissue becomes very thin AND the worst part, most women have a lot of adhesions/scarring in the vaginal canal....pretty much making sexual intercourse/even PAP smears very painfulor just plain impossible. I had the worst buffoon for a rad onc....at least initially - changed rad oncs.....BUT he did warn me about these side effects and told me ways to avoid it. I have to say, no matter how crass he was, his advice was very welcome. Unfortunately, most rad oncs don't discuss this with female patients and instead, tell them that they'll deal with the problems LONG after radiation, surgery and adjuvant chemo. By then, the damage is done and it is very hard, if not impossible to fix it. The solution is to use dilators to attempt to 'stretch' the scar tissue but it is a painful process that often doesn't truly work. What's even more infuriating is that when a female has certain other cancers that also require pelvic radiation (sometimes cervical, endometrial, etc.) gyn oncs DO tell their patients about these side effects. So the question is WHY NOT FOR RECTAL CANCER??
lakeswim wrote:Thank you. I have reached out to my PCP for an audiologist referral. My oncologist mentioned nothing about the hearing aspect.
Pray tell - what are the female anatomy side effects from radiation?
Thank you.
NHMike wrote:There can be side-effects for men as well in surgery and recovery. My surgeon mentioned them to me in the planning session though I was more concerned with survival.......
SteveNZ wrote:Have other folk met this at all?
Could it be permanent?
Lee wrote:SteveNZ wrote:Have other folk met this at all?
Could it be permanent?
Raising hand wildly, me, me, me!
I actually lost 90% of my hearing during my last infusion. My Onc got one of those Dr to Dr referral and I was seeing a ear surgeon in 48 hrs. His comment was "generally chemo does not cause this, but there is this new drugs, (and he mutilated the word Oxyplatin), where they are seeing hearing loss". I shot back with the correct wording follow up with I just had my 12 infusion. I too got antibiotics for a couple of weeks. Didn't help. I also got water in my ears, very weird. He had to put a tube in one ear with most of the water. That cleared up the water problem, and a good chunk of my hearing loss. For the next 5 yrs, I had gradual hearing loss, then it stopped. And I too have some ringing in my ears today. Mild thank goodness.
What is interesting is where my hearing loss range is It is the exact opposite of someone who losses hearing due to age. As surgeon put it, this is not normal hearing loss. The loss for me was permanent, butt as I stated above, the gradual loss stopped after 5 yrs. I have up to 50% loss in one ear, and about 20% percent in the other ear.
Good luck,
Lee
NHMike wrote:I have one more Oxaliplatin infusion left, likely next Wednesday. I'll hear for this.
lakeswim wrote:...Pray tell - what are the female anatomy side effects from radiation?..?.
SteveNZ wrote:NHMike wrote:There can be side-effects for men as well in surgery and recovery. My surgeon mentioned them to me in the planning session though I was more concerned with survival.......
I am very much the same.
BUT I must admit it (romance etc) is always at the back of my mind and I wonder what I will be like after it all.
My current attitude is very much a '..deal with survival first and worry about these things later..'!
Still it is early days for myself and I have not been through much yet as have many, many others.
Man you folk are all pretty courageous.
Thanks for being here to share.
O Stoma Mia wrote:lakeswim wrote:...Pray tell - what are the female anatomy side effects from radiation?..?.
You might be able to get help in this area if you have a Women's Pelvic Health Center near you. Others on this forum have found such centers to be helpful., e.g.,
http://coloncancersupport.colonclub.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=59284&p=470739#p470739
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