Do X-rays and CT scans cause cancer?

[Hobbes' Choice]

Whew! I've had a lot of CT scans and and X-rays and radiation this past year because of cancer.

How's it going?

Clean so far. But I lost my prostrate and a kidney to cancer. Thanks for asking.

I had tonsil cancer a few years ago. So I know how nasty it can all get. Having your mouth and neck irradiated is pretty fucking evil.
How long has it been since the treatment. I've made 7.5 years so far.

[The Inglorious One]

I had tonsil cancer a few years ago. So I know how nasty it can all get. Having your mouth and neck irradiated is pretty fucking evil.
How long has it been since the treatment. I've made 7.5 years so far.

Know what it's like to have a scrotum literally bloated to the size of a grapefruit? Radical prostatectomy 9 years ago, radiation 1 year ago, kidney removed 7 months ago. (I was 4 weeks in the hospital, mostly because docs cut my bowel while removing the kidney.) I don't know how many X-rays, CT and other scans. In spite of all that, I'm feeling pretty good.

Radiation treatment wasn't too bad for me, just a couple of days of feeling so wore out that I felt like I was hit by a bus.

[Hobbes' Choice]

I had tonsil cancer a few years ago. So I know how nasty it can all get. Having your mouth and neck irradiated is pretty fucking evil.
How long has it been since the treatment. I've made 7.5 years so far.

Know what it's like to have a scrotum literally bloated to the size of a grapefruit? Radical prostatectomy 9 years ago, radiation 1 year ago, kidney removed 7 months ago. (I was 4 weeks in the hospital, mostly because docs cut my bowel while removing the kidney.) I don't know how many X-rays, CT and other scans. In spite of all that, I'm feeling pretty good.

Radiation treatment wasn't too bad for me, just a couple of days of feeling so wore out that I felt like I was hit by a bus.

No I don't know what it's like to have a swollen nut bag,

For me, i'd not wish my 7 weeks of radiotherapy and chemotherapy on anyone. Have you any idea what it does to your face, and salivary glands?
In week one your mouth goes dry, in week two you loose all your taste buds, week three you mega produce saliva which tastes like ash, in fact everything tastes like ash, week four its not just the chemo that makes you sick to the stomach. now your throat is burning so much you dread the vomiting because acid over the burned out throat ain't so good, and the pain killers just don't help anymore. Week five having lost 15lbs, you are feeling week, but the salivary glands have stepped up production so you spend all day spitting up gross shite into a bag, which now contain blood from the coughing. Week six, its all you can do to drink a small glass of water, food is impossible. Can't sleep, serious fatigue, heart rate down to 40 bbm,. Then you mouth gets dry. The rad burns on your neck are now suppurating, and your ear has lost all its skin. Week seven, last week of radio, and chemo. Week eight pain is actually worse. Weight loss now 33lbs.
After two more weeks the pain begins to subside, you can take less morphine and tramadol, no more antiemetics (they never really worked anyway). Eating is now possible, but no tea. wine, chocolate, spices, garlic, nothing dry, no bread, cereals, meat. (I could eat Triffle if you know what that is) Jello & cream, and scrambled eggs is about all you can swallow for a few more weeks yet, as the throat starts to heal, no saliva - not for months yet, but you can use a spray to moisten your mouth, tastes like french kissing a dog.

Still have neck pain from the radiogenic fibrocitis, but unexpectedly the salivary glands are back to normal.

[The Inglorious One]

I had tonsil cancer a few years ago. So I know how nasty it can all get. Having your mouth and neck irradiated is pretty fucking evil.
How long has it been since the treatment. I've made 7.5 years so far.

Know what it's like to have a scrotum literally bloated to the size of a grapefruit? Radical prostatectomy 9 years ago, radiation 1 year ago, kidney removed 7 months ago. (I was 4 weeks in the hospital, mostly because docs cut my bowel while removing the kidney.) I don't know how many X-rays, CT and other scans. In spite of all that, I'm feeling pretty good.

Radiation treatment wasn't too bad for me, just a couple of days of feeling so wore out that I felt like I was hit by a bus.

No I don't know what it's like to have a swollen nut bag,

For me, i'd not wish my 7 weeks of radiotherapy and chemotherapy on anyone. Have you any idea what it does to your face, and salivary glands?
In week one your mouth goes dry, in week two you loose all your taste buds, week three you mega produce saliva which tastes like ash, in fact everything tastes like ash, week four its not just the chemo that makes you sick to the stomach. now your throat is burning so much you dread the vomiting because acid over the burned out throat ain't so good, and the pain killers just don't help anymore. Week five having lost 15lbs, you are feeling week, but the salivary glands have stepped up production so you spend all day spitting up gross shite into a bag, which now contain blood from the coughing. Week six, its all you can do to drink a small glass of water, food is impossible. Can't sleep, serious fatigue, heart rate down to 40 bbm,. Then you mouth gets dry. The rad burns on your neck are now suppurating, and your ear has lost all its skin. Week seven, last week of radio, and chemo. Week eight pain is actually worse. Weight loss now 33lbs.
After two more weeks the pain begins to subside, you can take less morphine and tramadol, no more antiemetics (they never really worked anyway). Eating is now possible, but no tea. wine, chocolate, spices, garlic, nothing dry, no bread, cereals, meat. (I could eat Triffle if you know what that is) Jello & cream, and scrambled eggs is about all you can swallow for a few more weeks yet, as the throat starts to heal, no saliva - not for months yet, but you can use a spray to moisten your mouth, tastes like french kissing a dog.

Still have neck pain from the radiogenic fibrocitis, but unexpectedly the salivary glands are back to normal.

I don't know what it's like personally, but I spent that much time on a shuttle with passengers going through exactly what you did. Not something to be envied, but it might be better than not having sex for 9 years or ever again. For me, getting zapped was just a matter of lying on a table, technicians aligning my tattoos and listening to music. Didn't have to have chemo.

What I went through with my kidney is a whole other story.

[Hobbes' Choice]

No I don't know what it's like to have a swollen nut bag,

For me, i'd not wish my 7 weeks of radiotherapy and chemotherapy on anyone. Have you any idea what it does to your face, and salivary glands?
In week one your mouth goes dry, in week two you loose all your taste buds, week three you mega produce saliva which tastes like ash, in fact everything tastes like ash, week four its not just the chemo that makes you sick to the stomach. now your throat is burning so much you dread the vomiting because acid over the burned out throat ain't so good, and the pain killers just don't help anymore. Week five having lost 15lbs, you are feeling week, but the salivary glands have stepped up production so you spend all day spitting up gross shite into a bag, which now contain blood from the coughing. Week six, its all you can do to drink a small glass of water, food is impossible. Can't sleep, serious fatigue, heart rate down to 40 bbm,. Then you mouth gets dry. The rad burns on your neck are now suppurating, and your ear has lost all its skin. Week seven, last week of radio, and chemo. Week eight pain is actually worse. Weight loss now 33lbs.
After two more weeks the pain begins to subside, you can take less morphine and tramadol, no more antiemetics (they never really worked anyway). Eating is now possible, but no tea. wine, chocolate, spices, garlic, nothing dry, no bread, cereals, meat. (I could eat Triffle if you know what that is) Jello & cream, and scrambled eggs is about all you can swallow for a few more weeks yet, as the throat starts to heal, no saliva - not for months yet, but you can use a spray to moisten your mouth, tastes like french kissing a dog.

Still have neck pain from the radiogenic fibrocitis, but unexpectedly the salivary glands are back to normal.

I don't know what it's like personally, but I spent that much time on a shuttle with passengers going through exactly what you did. Not something to be envied, but it might be better than not having sex for 9 years or ever again. For me, getting zapped was just a matter of lying on a table, technicians aligning my tattoos and listening to music. Didn't have to have chemo.

What I went through with my kidney is a whole other story.

Main thing is we are still alive. Are you US or UK?

[The Inglorious One]

Main thing is we are still alive. Are you US or UK?

You are right -- though there were times when all I could see was a "white wall of pain," as I later came to describe it. Funny how the mind deals with such things.

I'm in the US.

I suspect my cancers might have more to do with exposure to agent orange than X-rays and CT scans. I'm waiting for a determination from the VA now.

[Hobbes' Choice]

Main thing is we are still alive. Are you US or UK?

You are right -- though there were times when all I could see was a "white wall of pain," as I later came to describe it. Funny how the mind deals with such things.

I'm in the US.

I suspect my cancers might have more to do with exposure to agent orange than X-rays and CT scans. I'm waiting for a determination from the VA now.

They reckon that throat cancers might have more to do with cunnilingus that any thing else!! What was once a rarity, and only hitting sad old lonely drinkers who smoke, is fast becoming a younger man's disease.
What is a "VA"?

Sorry to hear you are in the USA, your insurance premiums must be shocking. I got all my treatment free. I could never, now return to the USA, as I could never afford the "previous condition" premium on the insurance.

[Philosophy Explorer]

Main thing is we are still alive. Are you US or UK?

You are right -- though there were times when all I could see was a "white wall of pain," as I later came to describe it. Funny how the mind deals with such things.

I'm in the US.

I suspect my cancers might have more to do with exposure to agent orange than X-rays and CT scans. I'm waiting for a determination from the VA now.

They reckon that throat cancers might have more to do with cunnilingus that any thing else!! What was once a rarity, and only hitting sad old lonely drinkers who smoke, is fast becoming a younger man's disease.
What is a "VA"?

Sorry to hear you are in the USA, your insurance premiums must be shocking. I got all my treatment free. I could never, now return to the USA, as I could never afford the "previous condition" premium on the insurance.

VA means Veteran's Administration. Don't talk about cunnilingus too much as I think that'll get Boob E. all excited.

PhilX

[The Inglorious One]

Main thing is we are still alive. Are you US or UK?

You are right -- though there were times when all I could see was a "white wall of pain," as I later came to describe it. Funny how the mind deals with such things.

I'm in the US.

I suspect my cancers might have more to do with exposure to agent orange than X-rays and CT scans. I'm waiting for a determination from the VA now.

They reckon that throat cancers might have more to do with cunnilingus that any thing else!! What was once a rarity, and only hitting sad old lonely drinkers who smoke, is fast becoming a younger man's disease.
What is a "VA"?

Sorry to hear you are in the USA, your insurance premiums must be shocking. I got all my treatment free. I could never, now return to the USA, as I could never afford the "previous condition" premium on the insurance.

The "previous condition premium" no longer exists under "Obamacare," which is why premiums have, for the most part, gone up.

Being in the US has its pluses and minuses, but if I has a flag I would probably fly it up-side down.

[Hobbes' Choice]

You are right -- though there were times when all I could see was a "white wall of pain," as I later came to describe it. Funny how the mind deals with such things.

I'm in the US.

I suspect my cancers might have more to do with exposure to agent orange than X-rays and CT scans. I'm waiting for a determination from the VA now.

They reckon that throat cancers might have more to do with cunnilingus that any thing else!! What was once a rarity, and only hitting sad old lonely drinkers who smoke, is fast becoming a younger man's disease.
What is a "VA"?

Sorry to hear you are in the USA, your insurance premiums must be shocking. I got all my treatment free. I could never, now return to the USA, as I could never afford the "previous condition" premium on the insurance.

The "previous condition premium" no longer exists under "Obamacare," which is why premiums have, for the most part, gone up.

Being in the US has its pluses and minuses, but if I has a flag I would probably fly it up-side down.

Obama's biggest mistake is not to end all health insurance. By making his care program work with existing insurance, he has condemned US health to a hidden 20% higher cost throughout.

In the UK, the NHS is free of expensive insurance assessors. You can still buy it if you are rich, but private medicine has to compete with free NHS, that puts a great burden of efficiency on them. In the USA you seem to have the worst case scenario - an insurance based public system with little competition.

Did you have good insurance? How much did it cost? And did it cover? and how much did the uncovered excess cost you?

[The Inglorious One]

Obama's biggest mistake is not to end all health insurance. By making his care program work with existing insurance, he has condemned US health to a hidden 20% higher cost throughout.

In the UK, the NHS is free of expensive insurance assessors. You can still buy it if you are rich, but private medicine has to compete with free NHS, that puts a great burden of efficiency on them. In the USA you seem to have the worst case scenario - an insurance based public system with little competition.

Did you have good insurance? How much did it cost? And did it cover? and how much did the uncovered excess cost you?

For my first surgery I paid roughly $400 out of a $70,000 bill. I was in the hospital for four days. My second bout with cancer, which was really 2 surgeries, cost me nothing: I've never even seen the bill. I was in the hospital for 4 weeks in that case, so I'm sure it would have been far more than $200,000. Each was under a different insurance.

Just about everyone agrees that our health care system really sucks if you don't have good insurance, but I don't know what's worse: the insurance companies or the drug companies. If I had to wager I'd say the drug companies are more corrupt.

[Hobbes' Choice]

Obama's biggest mistake is not to end all health insurance. By making his care program work with existing insurance, he has condemned US health to a hidden 20% higher cost throughout.

In the UK, the NHS is free of expensive insurance assessors. You can still buy it if you are rich, but private medicine has to compete with free NHS, that puts a great burden of efficiency on them. In the USA you seem to have the worst case scenario - an insurance based public system with little competition.

Did you have good insurance? How much did it cost? And did it cover? and how much did the uncovered excess cost you?

For my first surgery I paid roughly $400 out of a $70,000 bill. I was in the hospital for four days. My second bout with cancer, which was really 2 surgeries, cost me nothing: I've never even seen the bill. I was in the hospital for 4 weeks in that case, so I'm sure it would have been far more than $200,000. Each was under a different insurance.

Just about everyone agrees that our health care system really sucks if you don't have good insurance, but I don't know what's worse: the insurance companies or the drug companies. If I had to wager I'd say the drug companies are more corrupt.

There is a current tendency for drug companies to co concentrate their efforts of drugs that give palliative care, or drugs that only treat symptoms and not the root cause of the disease. This has led to a long list of very expensive drugs that keep people alive, but do not effect a cure. Curing people have become bad business - cured people stop buying drugs. All the time they hold on to copyright and litigate heavily against anyone trying to produce chemically similar drugs. Worst still, whilst they ramp up the prices on drugs at home, they sell knock-off re-named drugs in the third world to keep the profits going. Some of these treatments can run into $40k + per year, and they are selling chemicals that they still profit from the re-named variations for a few 100 bucks or whatever they can get from the third world.
This is sick.