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Anyone out there with Thymoma/Thymic Carcinoma
Cancer | Last Active: Sep 3, 2023 | Replies (136)Comment receiving replies
We made it through round one of chemo. The benedryl 50 mg zonked him for the day and the next day he felt quite good (probably from steroid). The 3 & 4th day he was hit by fatigue and bowel movements. Now he fears eating and drinking cause he doesn’t want to have an accident. We continue to encourage and will return for round two this coming Thursday. I need to ask my dads doctor about the tumor type and make up. He had prostate cancer 15 years ago and no imaging studies were done at that time. Prostate was radioactively seeded. I wonder if this could have been a thymoma that turned into a squamos cell thymic carcinoma? Is this possible? Also wanted to know why immunotherapytherapy only seems to be option after reoccurrence. Lastly, has anyone had experience with proton therapy vs targeted radiation?
Replies to "We made it through round one of chemo. The benedryl 50 mg zonked him for the..."
Hi Gail,
I had 7 weeks (35 sessions) of proton therapy radiation at MD Anderson in Houston, TX. It was just over 4 months after my sugical resection and after several months of weekly chemo. I suffered with extensive radiation burns and my sternum didn't fully fuse due to my radiation treatments. Surely it can be tough, but here I am 6 years later, and I can't say which treatment saved my life or if it was all combined. We had to fight the insurance company until the absolute final appeal to get my insurance to cover proton therapy, but the final "peer review" doctor felt it was my only hope and only option, so approved it. Best wishes to your family.
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I did 35 sessions of proton at Penn in Philadelphia. Compared to the impacts I saw with traditional radiation, which included deep burns, it was nothing of consequence. The thymoma is right in front of the heart and lungs, and as I had just had open heart surgery the insurer approved proton.