What is the long term side effects of chemo and radiation therapy after total gastronomy surgery?

ahmed h

New member
My brother had a surgery 8 months ago to remove the entire stomach after diagnoised stomach cancer after the surgery he had a combination of chemo and radiation therapy , he finished about 3 months ago, and he made CT it was free , now he start to suffer from neck and back pains , some times hard swallowing and stomach pain , is that noraml long term side effects and what the best way of treat that, his next check will come after 1 month
 

Canan

New member
That is a really good question! I don't think there are any real studies on long term effects on these aggressive treatment methods (because they are usually a last resort to fight off malicous diseases). I didn't know that it was possible to remove the entire stomach. But I believe the majority of stomach cancers originate in other parts of the body, hence its a metastized cancer (spread out into the body), those are more difficult to treat. He may want to get checked earlier than his scheduled appointment, since those pains and problems in other areas could be the new onset tumors.
 

actor2009

New member
When my father was undergoing radiation for lung cancer, he was also going to a naturalpath... the naturalpath gave him a drop that reduces the long term side effects of the radiation. Apparently in 10 to 15 years the radiation can cause leukemia...and another type of cancer.
 

Mikey

New member
Hello, i have had also had a complete gasterectomy, a partial pancretectomy and a spleenectomy due to a gastrointestinal stromel tumor so i understand what your brother is going through. If you need some perspective on what i went through, and what i did to help myself(mind you a doctor is always first consulted) please go to http://www.positivecancer.com The posts under mystory explain what i've been through, but i think that quite a few of the posts related to diet, exercise might be of help. the stomach and swallowing pains are very very normal, and mine lasted for some time. His doctor as probably already informed him about dumping syndrome, but if not ask about it. I know that for me i had to relearn how to eat smaller portions, and i still(3 years) cannot eat and drink at the same time. For the first while i would suggest he separate eating and drinking by an hour. Everything else you have said is normal, and with the neck and back pains, make sure that it's not any kind of pleural iffusion(its an infection) because i had that also. Complications after serious surgury and chemo are very very common, but hang in there, and tell your brother the same. Check out the website, and you can of course, email me directly or through the site if you have any more questions. Good Luck.
 
Top