Over-Radiation Validation?

The Hospital Has Responded (sort of)

When I got home from traveling this week for work, there was a letter waiting for me from my radiation oncologist.  This is in response to my email asking them to check to see if I could have had been administered too much radiation.  I was courteous but firm in my email fully expecting the same "there is no possible way you could have these problems from radiation therapy" or "I would never prescribe radiation therapy to anyone if it caused problems like you SAY you are having" response that has been my experience from these physicians in the past.  I was surprised.

The gist of the letter states that reactions like mine to radiation therapy are rare (I'll give them that) and according to what was "prescribed" [notice they did not say administered or delivered] I should not have had these problems.  However, they are sending my records to the independent physicists consulting group that is working its way through their files for a full review, both of the external beam therapy and the internal high dose rate brachytherapy.  They ask for patience as a full review will take some time.  I wish they had taken a little more time when they figured my dosage 6 years ago, but I will try to be patient.  It's not like more time is going to make any difference other than me getting slowly worse.  I am glad for the independent review, and hope it will shed some light on my physical issues from therapy.  My luck is that it won't..

I am extremely tired and exhausted.  The Headache is not happy, The Belly is not happy, and I'm not able to do very much.  I have had a very very very very long week at the clients'.  Our clients are very good people, but the chaos of a computer conversion disrupts their normal work flow and creates havoc.  I am excellent dealing with this, but then our clients want me to stay and stay and stay and help, and there is only so much I can do as an outside vendor to solve their problems. 

Maybe I just need to start my own problem solving business.  Hmmm, guess I should start on mine first.  Bummer.

Irradiated to The Max and Beyond

Me She Hulk, Me Angry

A friend called last night to tell me to watch the local news.  Apparently the hospital I received my radiation treatment from has discovered a major miscalibration of their brain tumor treatment equipment, starting in the year I received my treatment.  The explanation I read stated that the physicist who helped setup the new equipment did not caculate the dosage correctly.  This physicist is no longer employed by the hospital group, thank goodness, but apparently the poor souls receiving radiation could have gotten significantly more radiation shot through their brains than ordered. An article about Cox Health System and the overdoses was published by the New York Times, so this is big time news around here.  See also an article and newscast from the local NBC affiliate, KY3.

I did not receive radiation treatment to my brain, but I did receive high dose rate brachytherapy which is individually calculated by a physicist - with my luck the same physicist who botched the calculation for the other machine.  The first two brachytherapy treatments I received were 15 minutes with a very heavy radiation source.  After reporting side effects after both of those treatments, I was apologized to and was told that "they" had not meant to irradiate my entire body, just a quarter inch into the skin (which is standard for brachytherapy) so they were going to change the radiation source and length of my last treatment.  It was only five minutes long with a much lighter source.  I did not have the side effect issues I had had with the prior two treatments.  I speculate that there was a gross miscalculation for the first two treatments.

I also received external beam therapy, which during my treatment was delayed several times because new software was being installed.  I don't know whether it was for machine calibration, machine control, or other purposes, but it did throw the patient flow off so it had to be related to treatment. 

I am very aggravated because I have been struggling with after effects of radiation treatment for the last five years, and have been unable to get local physicians to acknowledge the cause.  I hate to be a conspiracy theorist, but perhaps part of the problem I had getting a diagnosis was that they were already aware there was an issue with the equipment/physicist in the first place.  After all, the physician I saw in St. Louis had no problem stating my digestive, nerve and incontinence issues were due to radiation treatment, while the Dr. Dunces I saw locally had me doing the testing shuffle insisting that it must be some other organic or disease issue.  The local colorectal surgeon was the only one willing to state that the problems I had were from radiation exposure

Whether it is ever officially acknowledged or not, I am certain I received too much radiation for my body or my tissue to handle.  I have contacted the hospital and asked them to please investigate.  I hate to have to escalate my inquiries through official channels, but have no fear of doing so if needed.

I feel like the Incredible She Hulk, irradiated and glowing green ready to tear up some buildings in my rage.  I guess there isn't much to do about it now the damage is done, but gosh durn I'd like to put the smack down on some doctors! 

See my related posts Post Radiation Neuralgia; Electric Pain Chaser; Seeing Dr. Dunce;  Another Dr. Dunce Day; Wash U Rocks