Linger Side Effects from chemo and radiation If you think its all over after chemo and radiation, think again. Ive been through both plus surgery during the past year and thought I had escaped with very few lingering effects - The tips of my fingers remain numb, which makes typing hard but not impossible.... But about two weeks ago I started having trouble breathing, a problem made worse by a cold I caught on an overnight roundtrip to Miami. Doctors ordered a chest X-ray, then said it looked like I had a heart problem. So I go back for an echocardiogram - meanwhile trying to breathe, especially at night. Our PA in Cashiers detects fluid buildup in my chest and prescribes Lasix while I wait for echo results. We were fearing the worst - chemo and radiation, particularly to the left breast, do sometimes cause heart damage. The good news is that the echo found a completely normal heart, no problems at all. Since Monday Ive lost 9 pounds of fluid and am breathing better. My lungs are also clear. We dont know how long this will last, but weve at least found a way to deal with it. A number of you have asked, thought Id better do an update. Unfortunately some of the things that will cure a cancer, cause other problems, but we all knew that the minute the nurses started putting on hazmet suits to administer the chemo. Fortunately weve been able to remain on our mountaintop....Now if I could just keep Willie and Johnny, the wonder cats, out of the fireplace and off the computers!!
Posted on: Fri, 25 Jul 2014 19:34:42 +0000
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