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Please help me, used to post about my dad, now I am scared of what I did to myself!!!

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Posted 4/29/2015 12:40 AM (GMT 0)
i am sorry to be discussing this here with you guys, but I tried posting on the vertigo/headache board, but unfortunately no one will answer me....I know this is prostate cancer but you guys have always helped me with my dad and since I can hear from your experiences, because i am sure you guys went through more scans then the average 30 year old like myself.

I am so upset i am actually going crazy right now..... I was suffering from lightheadness for about 4 weeks before i saw a neurologist he sent me for the tests mri of brain and spine. I came back to him and he said well it doesnt look like you have ms, which is good, but if you want we can do a cat scan angio of your brain to see brain flow, its a cool test you can see your actual arteries.

Not knowing the actual radiation exposure i would get (so stupid) iwent for it and omgggggggggg how i regret it!!!! Pls read up on the radiation dose for angio of the head, it is the highest lethal dose of scans you can get. One ct will result in 1 in 140 eventually getting cancer. Omggg

pls tell me what is the reason why doctors send you for this test. If your mris are fine, then what is the reason behind a cat scan of the brain. What happened to benefits outweighting the risks. I feel like i am doomed. I
am so scared pls help me!!!!! I am only 33 years old, and I am scared I ruined my DNA for life. Also I had a Head and Neck CT w/contrast a couple of years ago for an inflamed parotid gland, I feel like all this radiation is surely going to lead me to cancer :(

pls help me I need someone to talk to
Posted 4/29/2015 1:20 AM (GMT 0)
Hey Luv,
First, telling you to calm down isn't going to work. In fact it will make you even more excited, so I won't go there. I'll take another approach.

Geez! That's a lot of radiation. But way less than a dose of dye for a full body scan. The good news is you have really good data that says you are clear. Great. OK so now you have a 1 in 140 chance of getting cancer. Add that to the 1 in 6 chance you have due to your family history of prostate cancer and that makes your odds 1 in 5.75. (Yes, I figured it out.)
Isn't that small extra worth it to know you don't have a problem? Now you don't have to worry about it for 20 years or so.

Are you overweight? How is your BMI? Do you exercise? How is your cholesterol? Those are the things that will likely kill you. So will risky sex, drug use, motorcycles and driving at night.

Here's another number to put things in perspective. The odds of a smoker getting lung cancer are 1 in 150. Do you think they are worried? Nah. And they pay all that money every week to reduce their lung capacity and feed the addiction.
You don't have that problem at all. You're clear. Congratulations.

Jeff
Posted 4/29/2015 1:22 AM (GMT 0)
You need to calm down and take a real view. Everyday for 8 weeks I get a CT scan before getting a X-ray blast 120 times more intense than a CT. Many have been through this for even longer. This is on top of all of X-rays for dental, fractures, annual physicals, etc. The odds of a secondary tumor is about .7% or 1 in 142 as you wrote. If it is a problem for you it will not be for decades, by then they'll have a vaccine or other quick cure. But at 142:1 odds I would not worry about it.

I know someone who would be alive today if his aneurism had been found with a CT scan of his brain.

BTW - what is the chance of an aneurism compared to a tumor from a CT scan.

Post Edited (NE-skier) : 4/28/2015 7:40:38 PM (GMT-6)

Posted 4/29/2015 1:32 AM (GMT 0)
So have you in fact had any damage, sightings of cancer or is this a picture you cannot get out of your brain, thus you are suffering from that false image.In other words why do you regret a decision that you already made. Is it fear or knowledge based. There are literally numbers to the nth power as to what may happen to you right now if you decide to to choose x instead of y. The guy who was depicted Imitiation Game had a term and calculation for it that is still used in math and Physics today. Allen Turing was his name… I remember it now… Makes me wonder how my future will differ if I get up and get another coffee of if I do not. You asked... Im sure my answer will not satisfy you and I suppose you will think that I am mocking your "dilemma". I assure you I am not. My post is an illustration of how little I think your situation warrants the kind of drama you are giving it. I do hope you rise above your fear and realize, it is fear that is your problem ….not cancer. thats my take, hopefully others will be along to soothe… Im the bad cop today… PS Your doctor told you you Could take it he never said that should , you agreed. there was no arm twisting going on. BTW what were the results of the scan… that would be my concern...
Posted 4/29/2015 2:43 AM (GMT 0)
Was this a CT angio or actually MRA which is essentially an angio of your brain/head done with magnetic resonance?

That one has NO radiation and only one I have heard being done lately....
Posted 4/29/2015 3:28 AM (GMT 0)
Dear Luv Your Dad,

Could you tell us where you found the "1 in 140" statistic? It sounds a bit overstated to me. There is lots of questionable information available here on the Internet and you have to be skeptical, especially when you find information that suggests that routine medical tests are, somehow, appallingly dangerous. If you tell us where you found the statistics that scared you we can take a look at them and, if we find them questionable, we will be glad to question them for you. It's part of the service.
Posted 4/29/2015 5:14 AM (GMT 0)
Goodness I hope that isn't the case. I've had so many MRI's, MRA's, CT's, CTA's of my head that I've lost count. No mention ever of it later causing any type of cancer and I've seen several neurologists.~Miki
Posted 4/29/2015 1:15 PM (GMT 0)
First of all thank you so much for all your replies!!! You guys are great... I actually got my info from uptodate, mainly only physicians have access to the website, but since my husband is a physician I use his access. It's the most reliable website out there. I had absolutely no clue how much radiation a CT Angio gives, until I read somewhere it is a pretty significant dose and then that is when I started to freak out. All the studies were done on 40 year old women and as I am33 I can imagine it has more of an impact on me.

I can't eat, sleep or do anything I am just so scared I am doomed. The number one type of cancer that is radiation induced is lung cancer, and I know that one is pretty lethal. Omggggg here I go again I feel like I am going to have a panic attack!

For the comment that the doctor didn't twist my arm, yes you are right but I spoke with plenty of neurologists and he should have at least notified me of the radiator impact. I was not in an emergency room, he told me he wasn't concerned about an anyeursm only that it would be nice to see the blood flow through vessels, etc, and you can get Ct Angio. If I had known the risks involved I would have never ever done it!!! I feel like I am doomed for life!
Posted 4/29/2015 3:20 PM (GMT 0)
Hey Luv,

For some reason I thought you were a guy! You can forget what I said about you getting prostate cancer. The odds of that happening are pretty close to zero. ;-)

You are clear!. That is the important thing. And in the unlikely event you need us, we will be here.

I just got my PSA results and they were <0.02 so I have some free time to worry on your behalf.
Would you prefer I cover the Mon, Wed, and Fri or the Tue, Thurs, and Sat, shift?

Hugs
Jeff

Post Edited (Worried Guy) : 4/29/2015 2:16:17 PM (GMT-6)

Posted 4/29/2015 3:29 PM (GMT 0)
As you probably know by now, anxiety is the root cause of your fear. {two word are interchangeable} As you also know, that can be controlled by you and only you. The resources for that control which paradoxically can only be effective by letting go, are also within you. What you suffer from is true for all of us, as is it's relief. Every factual antidote will always have it 's share of poison. So you must transscend this…forgive yourself for lapses… and live your life. Get your mind off yourself. Read my post to Dixie! Not touting it, but there's some good stuff in there. To paraphrase a quote fro Confucious ' turn unto Wisdom and Lo it is there' Choose Luv and suffer for that. We all suffer…the key is to suffer for life not from it. Somebody has to keep the candle lit…what else you got to do??
Posted 4/29/2015 3:37 PM (GMT 0)
Hello again Luv,

Lets do some math.

I have consulted several sites and they all seem to agree that the average effective dose for a head and neck angiogram is 5.0 mSv (millisieverts). That is the dose one would get from being exposed to 5.0 milligray of radiation. 5 mSv is slightly less than the dose one would get from living in Denver, Colorado, for six months. Radioactive city, Denver, mostly from Radon gas that leeches out of the ground. Denver also has below-average rates of most cancers, so go figure.

By way of contrast, my radiotherapy to mop up after my surgery involved 66.6 Gray of radiation delivered as 37 1.8 Gray sessions. That means that every day I received 360 times as much radiation as you did. To get 66.6 gray from head and neck angiograms I would have to have an angiogram every day for 36 1/2 years.

As for your cancer risk, the figure I have seen from the NRC is that each mSv increases one's lifetime risk of cancer by 0.004 percent. So your 5 mSv increases it by 0.02 percent. That's one cancer in 5000 if one believes the NRC... which I don't... I think it's too alarmist... because, Denver.

Here are some websites I looked at for my numbers.

http://www.beaumont.edu/files/imce/pdfs/Derived%20Dose%20Table%20FINAL%20022112.pdf
www.mun.ca/biology/scarr/Radiation_definitions.html
isis-online.org/risk/tab7

So try to calm down. You are mortal so something is going to kill you sometime in the next 80 years or so. But it won't be cancer from your angiogram. So, you are right that you are doomed. We all are. But you are no more doomed than any other 33 year old woman.

Unless you worry yourself to death.
Posted 4/29/2015 3:37 PM (GMT 0)
I had a CT of the head for sinus problems about 10yrs ago, and remember feeling the same way as you did, when I found out how much more radiation CT exposes us to, compared to a normal X-ray. Doctor didn´t tell me either. I have calmed down since, obviously, lol. You have to accept it, and just live by the ALARA ("as low as reasonably achievable") principle for radiation, because, believe me, you will be faced with many more sources of radiation (dentists, airports)...There are of course diseases that warrant regular CTs and Xrays, and these are the cases when benefit exceeds potential harm. But when I can, I refuse them. I refused dental X-rays for my kids, in line with ALARA (and there was really no medical need). You also gotta keep in mind that still, the radiation exposure we are talking about is relatively minor. Nothing compared to experimentation with radioactive isotopes of Marie Curie, and she lived to an old age, lol. Just relax, and be aware of this for the future, this is all you can do, and it is a good strategy for the future. You are NOT doomed for life.
Posted 4/29/2015 4:25 PM (GMT 0)

SpecialLady said...
You also gotta keep in mind that still, the radiation exposure we are talking about is relatively minor. Nothing compared to experimentation with radioactive isotopes of Marie Curie, and she lived to an old age, lol. Just relax, and be aware of this for the future, this is all you can do, and it is a good strategy for the future. You are NOT doomed for life.

I thought she died as the result of her years of radiation exposure at the age of 67. But she was in constant unprotected contact with little knowledge of what it can cause. I agree with you on the dental overuse of x-rays, especially for children or any overuse of scans that expose one to radiation. When I hear of all the scans that some are subjecting themselves to, I wonder if patient safety is forgotten in the rush to pay for the expensive pieces of equipment.
Still, it seems that Luv is ten times more likely to get breast cancer at some point than brain cancer in 30 years from this one scan. Perhaps her husband can find some more realistic numbers to relieve her anxiety.
Posted 4/29/2015 6:41 PM (GMT 0)
Life is a terminal condition. Not much to worry about. I suspect you are at higher risk driving to the grocery store. I know I am, with the idiots around here.
Posted 4/29/2015 7:22 PM (GMT 0)

142 said...
I suspect you are at higher risk driving to the grocery store. I know I am, with the idiots around here.

142...Hey...you talkin' about me...you talkin' about me??!!

Luv, I know your anxiety level is high but I think Peter DA put it into good perspective with the research he did (and he is very good at it). So, turn your worries over to Worried Guy Jeff whose job it is to worry for the rest of us. You will likely live a long and cancer-free life. As they used to say on Seinfeld, "serenity now...".

Jim
Posted 4/29/2015 11:51 PM (GMT 0)
Luv, It is rare indeed that the members are unified in there response to any topic. I see unity here north south east and west. Have comfort in that. Ill put it another way. You came here for comfort, you got unanimous comfort. Would you prefer we be unanimous and agree with your assessment.. Would that comfort you more????? I still want to know the results of the now "infamous" scan. Maybe I missed it. Sorry Luv, If I could I would make all your fears and anxiety fly away. Please as you read these posts do not do what my sons used to do when they were young boys. " Yeh…but…Yea…but." If you have children you know what I mean.
Posted 4/30/2015 1:15 AM (GMT 0)
Beejane- you are right and some of her notebooks are still radioactive and encased in lead. Some of her books and things are at University of Massachusetts- Lowell btw!!

Talked to a nuclear physicist friend- specialty is radiation health physics. He said the stats you are quoting are way off and its not much of a risk at all thankfully. He has won an international award for a formula that more accurately calculates the nuclear half life of one of the radioactive isotopes (I forget which one). He was still under 30 then too I think. The field is pretty narrow and small and they actually balked at him for quite some time over it saying he was wrong but then it was proven and he quietly got this plaque in the mail in a manila envelope with certificate and letter out of the blue one day. I happened to be there and he was telling me how it was bittersweet since all that happened. The only one who backed him at first was one of his old college professors.... Imagine that...
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