We went to a talk about Proton Therapy yesterday at MGH. It was given by a physicist who works with the Cyclotron at MGH. Some of it was over our heads (I took double English instead of Physics in high school, big mistake), but it was still completely fascinating. In some ways, I feel like a part of history. The MGH proton center started treating patients in 2002, but in the next couple of years, these centers will be popping up all over the place and I think this will be THE radiation that treats cancer moving forward.
I got hung up on one part of the talk though. He described how this therapy leaves neutrons in your body which just kinda float around indefinitely and can possibly cause, you guessed it, cancer anywhere else in the body.
He said this pretty matter-of-factly. And it didn't send shockwaves through the room or anything. For one, all us patients in the room recognize that we are damn lucky to be getting proton therapy because it's the only thing that's going to help us. For two, most patients in the room had between 15-30 years on me, so maybe they're not as worried about the cancer they might get 20 odd years from now when they'll be 65, 75, 85. I'll be 55 in 20 years though. I want to see what C does when she's done with college. Especially if I'm paying for college.
This radiation concept isn't new to me. We have a hunch that the radiation Wendy received for her lymphoma caused her pancreatic cancer later in life.
Then there was the report this week that CT scans cause cancer. I had never had a CT scan before 2008, but since my diagnosis they've been fast and furious. I think it's been somewhere between 8 and 10 in the past year and a half.
How much should I be worrying about all this? I have no idea. You can drive yourself crazy and then that will kill you. And I'm not a person who was wired to worry. I'm just not good at it.
I know that the right thing to do right now is to not think about what might happen to my health in the future. And maybe there is something to that Neutron Dance the Pointer Sisters told us about.
So much to think about. This is cutting edge stuff. Knowing a little bit about protons, neutrons and electrons, I would imagine that making sure that you are continuing to eat a well balanced diet high in antioxidents (Vit. C and E, etc. ) - will be very helpful to gobble up those free radicles in your body. So, eat your blueberries and you are right, don't think about it too much because worrying is biologically not good for your body either......thinking about you.
ReplyDeleteAMG-- Julie S. shared your blog with me. I'm thinking of you (and reading along) and sending positive, healing juju your way.
ReplyDeleteThinkin' of you, girl.
Leah
AMG, I love your blog by the way. I've always thought this but I think you have a really good writing style that you could parlay into short story or book writing.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, don't worry about your free radicals. Hell, they're free right? Can't be that bad. You do have a good point about how people who are much older aren't really as worried about 20 years down the road and I'm sure they are as aware of that as you are. The thing is, radiation isn't nearly as bad as it was 30 years ago. 20 years from now, if something did pop-up in your system, the technology to deal with it will be farther along and doctors will be better equipt to deal with it.