nsupp
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Hello,
I am scared right now and don’t have anyone to talk to beside my partner. 10 years ago I had a chest ct scan for a chronic respiratory condition (it was negative) which I thought might be caused by exposure to fiberglass. The condition has since gone, but 2-2.5 years I have had 2 more chest rays for followup and immigration to a new country. Just recently, I had right chest pain over a month, and after briefly talking to the doctor, he prescribed a chest and rib xray. I also found out I had thyroid nodules (but they have not grown in the last year so no action was to be taken). All of this happened really close together, and I now realize the nodules could’ve been caused by the radiation. Also, I realize that each xray may be bringing me closer to other cancers. I am scared and depressed because in trying to detect problems I realize that I have most likely shortened my life span. I have a young child and I am having a hard time looking at him and realizing that I may have taken away time from him (time with me). The Xray happened last week and last night I felt cramping in my legs and tremors across my body, it dissipated when my husband warmed me up (it was not cold in the house though). Also, I’m feeling a bit nauseus. I am going to my doctor tomorrow to discuss my concerns (another doctor prescribed the xray when my doctor was gone, but he was rushed and I agreed to it). In any case I’m sorry for the long email but I needed to share this with someone.
Thank you.
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Dr West
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I think you are very, very severely overestimating the risk from a chest CT and x-rays. You get as much radiation from flying across the country on a plane as you get from an x-ray. You get as much radiation from living in Denver for a year as you do from an x-ray, and yet neither pilots, flight attendants, nor Denver residents are dying of cancer at alarming rates. These are pretty close to trivial, and it is pretty close to unimaginable that you have received anything remotely in the range of a clinically concerning level of radiation from these imaging studies.
-Dr. West
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Howard (Jack) West, MD
Medical Oncologist
Views expressed here represent my opinion, not those of GRACE or Swedish Cancer Institute. This information does not constitute medical advice and is intended to supplement and not replace medical information provided by your doctor.
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