Radiation Treatments

When we started our treatments Dr. Alter explained to me and Katie his treatment protocol. Dr Alter said Katie would get 2 chemo treatments + radiation OR 4 chemo treatments only. If response to chemo was good after 2 treatments it would be followed by radiation if not we would get 2 more chemo treatments. That was the way it was explained to us before we began any treatments. Now Katie has completed the 4 chemo treatments and now the doctor is changing the treatments. Now they want Katie to go through the radiation treatments also.

We were refered to and saw the radiologist Dr. Garlitos on May 11th. We asked him questions as to the dangers and side effects of the treatments. He told us she would receive 21 units over 3 weeks and that this was a much lower dose than used in the past of 35 units on adults. But Katie is a small child with little body mass and proportionately that is a much higher dose than an adult.

The Dangers of Radiation Treatment

Radiation would be done to Katie's chest. She is 12 yrs old and hasn't developed sexually and is not physically mature yet. The radiation would damage her lungs (cystic fribrosis), her heart muscle would be damaged, her breasts would be damaged and would likely develop breast cancer later, and her spinal column in her back would be damaged and she would not grow any taller and may have learning problems. Her thyroid and thymos glands would be damaged and she would have hormone problems. Immediate side effects are nausea and vomiting, low blood counts, mouth sores, and skin burns.