My sisters husband died 2 mos. ago from lung and throat cancer..Her hair has been falling out and is very thin she has also been very sick..vomiting,headaches,etc. Could this be caused from the cancer treatments he recieved when he was sick? Lana
2006-11-18 23:41:07 · 13 answers · asked by ladyluck 2 in Health ➔ Diseases & Conditions ➔ Cancer
Chemo- highly unlikely, since most chemotherapy is administered through an IV....
Radiation-yes, especially if it was the implanted type. I used to work Oncology in our hospital for several years. We had treated a number of patients with chemo and radiation. The chemo patients we had, we had to use only normal isolation techniques...gloves. With those that had implant radiation, we had to wear a lead vest followed by working behind a large lead apron (it was a sort of small half wall on wheels) and we all had to wear radiation badges, which were collected periodically and checked for amounts of radiation absorbed.
As for your sister, she may have what is called Radiation sickness, or it could just be severe depression from the loss of her husband. Depression has hundreds of symptoms, many of which you mentioned. Have her make an appointment and have a radiation level test done on her to rule out the radiation sickness. If that comes back fine, ask her to seek counseling. Last of all, since she is your sister, let her vent all her anger, frustration, sorrow, etc on you. Right now she needs lots of love and support to get her through this terrible time. Your family will be in my thoughts and prayers.
2006-11-18 23:51:03 · answer #1 · answered by lyfsavr67medic 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
She should be evaluated by a doctor as soon as possible. Not because she was affected by her husbands cancer treatment, but because something is definitely going on in her own system. No one here can make a diagnosis based on the statement that you made. However, there are no documented cases where anyone from the family has gotten cancer from a family members treatment.
I stayed continuously for 16 months with my son during everyone of his cancer treatments, never left his side and I've had no noticable reaction. I also got to talk with his nurses some of who have been exposed to chemo and radiation for 20 years or more. One nurse told us that when chemo was first introduced that no one wore any protection at all. Today they take many precautions by gowning up and disposing of the empty bags, and staying generally clean. They are far more cautious, but they also work daily around these chemicals for years at a time. If anyones health would be affected it would be the people who work with the medicines.
Have your sister go see her doctor and insist that he get to the bottom of her illness.
2006-11-19 03:55:29 · answer #2 · answered by Panda 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There will be no effect on her because he took Chemo. This is more than likely being caused by severe depression. It's not uncommon for you to lose hair and vomit when you have suffered such a terrible loss such as this.
2006-11-18 23:45:57 · answer #3 · answered by bunny 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Chemo causes hair to fall out, that is one of the side-effects, All these things you mention are. If you are asking if these side effects can effect others around a person going through this, No.
2006-11-19 06:43:11 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Chemotherapy is given in drug form, it enters the blood system and is known as systemic because its treats the whole body. Radiotherapy is a little more comlex. Using very large x-ray machines (like when you break an arm) it delivers a beam of x-rays to a paticular site where the cancer is located. Because x-rays are radiation, the radiation is delivered to a very specific area in the body and kills cells where is it targeted, that way killing of the cells of the tumour.
2016-03-29 01:24:13 · answer #5 · answered by Barbara 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No....more than likely, she is feeling a great deal of stress and anxiety from the entire ordeal and the loss of her husband...may not be sleeping or eating as well as she should as a result. More than likely it is the stress and poor nutrition or it could be that she herself is ill. She should contact her physician right away and schedule a full physical to get to the root of this problem....so sorry for your loss and wish you and your sister the best of luck.
2006-11-18 23:51:21 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
She could be just severly depressed and not properly taking care of herself; very likely under her circumstances However, a very good friend of mine just completed her treatments for breast cancer and her husband was told he was NOT to clean up for her if she were to vomit (from her treatment) Evidently whatever chemicals they were using to fight her cancer were very toxic. Kind of scary when you think about it. (lets put this in your body to make you better, but dont let anyone come in contact with anything that comes out of your body because it is very dangerous) So she may want to discuss that with his/her docotor. But either way she does need to be seen. I am very sorry for her loss.
2006-11-18 23:48:21 · answer #7 · answered by his temptress 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I would suggest your sister see a doctor but, as far as any side affects, that's not possible, it's not that kind of radiation. She may be suffering from depression or some other disease.
2006-11-18 23:46:20 · answer #8 · answered by cowboydoc 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
No chemo and radiation isn't contagious.
She needs to go to the doctor to be tested to see why she is sick.
2006-11-18 23:45:50 · answer #9 · answered by couchP56 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
ive never heard that someone else got sick from chemo without getting chemo themselves so i dont think its that but send her to the docs so they can tell her whats wrong. if it aint seriouse shes got all the symptoms of stress
2006-11-18 23:43:41 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋