Recent Comments:
The Cancer Blog retires
The Cancer Blog
Sep 22nd 2007 12:46AM This is so so sad - :(
There is nothing like this. I put it on my auto calendar to remind me 2x weekly.
It is extremely well designed, user friendly and warm. Its informative and personable and most of all, not scary or depressing.
There will be a big hole in my cancer journey. Now what do I do ?
Thanks for the wonderful time, that is much to short.
Cancer drug linked to rotting jaws
The Cancer Blog
Jun 3rd 2006 11:21AM I read in the NY Times today (site requires free membership)
A few paragraphs follow:
for more info, suggested searches: bisphosphonates, osteonecrosis
- Drug for Bones Is Newly Linked to Jaw Disease
By GINA KOLATA, Published: June 2, 2006
It is estimated that among the 500,000 American cancer patients who take the drugs because their disease is affecting their bones, 1 to 10 percent may develop the problem.
As for the millions of osteoporosis patients, who take lower doses, the condition seems less common. But no one knows how much less. Some oral surgeons have as many as a couple of dozen cases, but their clinics have become centers to which patients elsewhere are referred. Among people with osteoporosis, only 15 cases of the new ailment have been reported in the medical literature.
In the last 10 years, millions of patients have taken a class of drugs that can prevent agonizing broken and deteriorating bones. The drugs once seemed perfectly safe and have transformed life for patients with cancer or osteoporosis.
The patients want to know whether they should stop taking the drugs, called bisphosphonates. They want to know whether they should shun invasive dental procedures, like tooth extractions and implants, which appear to set off the condition. They want to know whether osteonecrosis of the jaw can be treated and, if so, how likely it is that a person will recover.
Even if patients stop taking the drugs, they are not free of them. Bisphosphonates remain in bone for years, and no one knows how long the osteonecrosis risk remains. Some doctors and dentists suggest stopping the drugs for a few months before and after an invasive dental procedure. Others say six months to a year may be better.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/02/health/02jaw.html?ex=1149998400&en=4cbef16c28fd409d&ei=5070&emc=eta1
Port saves veins, eases discomfort of chemotherapy
The Cancer Blog
Jun 3rd 2006 10:36AM My doctor told me I could have my port removed, but I actually wanted relief for a while, from anything medical and did also feel I should wait a respectable time. Unfortunately, that was a wise decision. A few months after I needed more treatment.
I would suggest that you keep it for a few months or a year, then let it go ! Something to think about is, how bad are your veins and how comfortable you are, if the port removed, then needs to be placed again. Each person deals with this differently. No matter what, we have no definite way of knowing in advance of what we need to do. Its a chance we take, that works differently for each persons pysch.
