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Anyone suspect radiation caused side effects such as EPI
I was warned about possible damage to lung and pancreas prior to receiving radiation and chemo therapy for Gasto/esophageal cancer. Three years later my pancreas quit working right. EPI is the diagnosis. I’m wondering if radiation caused cellular damage and if the latest cellular regrowth technology is being applied to internal organs such as the pancreas?
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By no means am I a doctor, but I would assume 3 years if time passing might just be a random occurrence through one or a combination of many factors specific to you that can cause that, through the normal course of life.
Is it possible, yes, but I think this falls more along a "contributing factors" sector more than primary factor.
Very sorry about the problems.
Radiation is an extremely powerful force. And, as such, of course it can cause all sorts of damage and problems. The idea is that it destroys the cancer cells more powerfully than it causes other damage.
Medicine, like all science is not a perfectly pristine discipline utterly and entirely free from internal politics and agendas.
Getting a doctor to confirm that a treatment protocol has damaged you in some way? That may not be the easiest thing to do, as the entire field lives in constant fear of medical malpractice lawsuits. And even if they did absolutely nothing wrong, they still live in those fears.
You might be best off find a doctor from an activist background, like someone from the group PSR - Physicians for Social Responsibility. Greenpeace and the Sierra Club might also know someone? I used to know a physicist who worked with the Sierra Club on nuclear issues. He was in his 70s, in the 90s, so I am sure he has passed by now.
Or one of the groups that monitors the dangers of radiation...like the Union of Concerned Scientists or the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientist.
Now...all that will do is confirm your suspicions. The point is to go forward from now and find the best course of treatment for your issues. And the doctor that you find to answer your first question, might be in some position to guide you to a physician that can help?
There are some dietary recommendations to help recover from radiation. Here is one list:
https://sfchiro.org/19-foods-naturally-help-detox-radiation/But, again, radiation is a very very powerful force. While a directed diet may help some, it is not going to be able to powerfully counteract the effects of radiation. It may, however, give you immune system a boost and help you fight back a bit.
What you really need to do is connect with an MD expert in this field who knows tons more than I do.
Sorry about the problems, best of luck.
Take care now.
Good question, @flanagan2. I can imagine that there may be multiple factors contributing to exocrine pancreatic insufficiency (EPI). You may wish to ask your oncology team if radiation can have such late effects.
You can find more information about regenerative medicine advances and areas of focus, including islet regeneration, at Mayo Clinic here: https://www.mayo.edu/research/centers-programs/center-regenerative-biotherapeutics/focus-areas/islet-regeneration
In any case, I assume your team is working on getting the symptoms and complications under control and then figuring out the underlying causes.
What does your doctor suspect is the underying cause? What symptoms do you have and how are they being managed?