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NYT article on radiation mistakes/overdoses - very scary
An article posted on the New York Times web page yesterday exposed some appalling mistakes committed during radiation treatments. Patients were given huge overdoses of radiation that ultimately led to their death. I read the article ( click here) last night and have been thinking about the patients and their families ever since. So much so that I felt out of sorts today, stressed, emotional, angry, a mixed bag of emotions all rolled into one.
I thank the New York Times for telling us the story. Hopefully the lives that were lost to the medical/technical mistakes committed will bring new levels of oversight in radiation rooms everywhere.
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ER+ (30%)/PR-/HER-2+, stage 3
Diagnosed on 02/18/09 at 38 with a huge 12x10 cm tumor, after a 6 month delay. Told I was too young and had no risk factors. Found swollen node during breastfeeding.
March-August 09: neo-adjuvant chemo, part of a trial at Stanford (4 DD A/C, 4 Taxotere with daily Tykerb), loading dose of Herceptin
08/12/09 - bye bye boobies (bilateral mastectomy)
08/24/09 - path report shows 100 % success in breast tissue (no cancer there, yay!), 98 % success in lymphatic invasion, and even though 11/13 nodes were still positive, > 95 % of the tumor in them was killed. Hoping for the best!
September-October 09: rads with daily Xeloda
02/25/10 - Cholecystectomy
05/27/10 - Bone scan clear
06/14/10 - CT scan clear, ovarian cyst found
07/27/10 - Done with Herceptin!
02/15/11 - MVA-BN HER-2 vaccine trial
03/15/11 - First CA 15-3: 12.7 and normal, yay!
10/01/11 - Bone scan and CT scan clear, fatty liver found
now on Tamoxifen and Aspirin
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