does anyone know...?

Marynb

mp327 said:

LaCh

Radiation not only thins the skin on the inside (the lining of the intestines), but it can also thin the skin on the outside.  It becomes very friable and easily irritated, especially with frequent wiping.  If you are using regular toilet paper, you might want to switch to a pre-moistened wipe that contains no alcohol and see if that helps.  If you don't want to go to those lengths, I have found that dipping a wad of toilet paper in water before wiping can help.  It is soothing and it makes cleaning easier with less wiping.  Also, applying something such as Desitin to the area may help.

Desitin
Hi Martha, i was told not to use Desitin because of the chemicals. They don't use it on babies anymore either.

mp327

Marynb said:

Desitin
Hi Martha, i was told not to use Desitin because of the chemicals. They don't use it on babies anymore either.

Marynb

I don't know the chemical composition of Desitin, but I'm sure it has contained zinc oxide.  Supposedly, Johnson & Johnson made a pledge (no pun intended) to remove the toxic chemicals from such products that they manufacture by the end of 2013.  Now, as to whether or not they have actually done this, I don't know.  Thanks for the heads up.

LaCh

mp327 said:

LaCh

Post-treatment problems can seem like a deal-breaker, but I still think the alternative would be worse.  But we are all entitled to our thoughts on this subject.

mp

But we are all entitled to our thoughts on this subject.

Indeed.

LaCh

mp327 said:

Marynb

I don't know the chemical composition of Desitin, but I'm sure it has contained zinc oxide.  Supposedly, Johnson & Johnson made a pledge (no pun intended) to remove the toxic chemicals from such products that they manufacture by the end of 2013.  Now, as to whether or not they have actually done this, I don't know.  Thanks for the heads up.

desitin, zinc and....

I use something called Ozonol. It isn't available in the United States, but is produced and sold in Canada. I get it from people I know in Canada; they bring it down when they visit NY; I don't know if it's available on the Internet, but it's just an over-the-counter ointment, so it might be. It contains zinc oxide and .18% phenol, which is derived from petroleum, something some people feel isn't risk-free, but nothing is risk free. Breathing isn't risk-free. Applied topically, it'll cure almost anything, seemingly. The reality of industrialized life is that you're always going to get something you don't want, mixed in with something that you do, if you buy that "thing" commercially. With care and forethought in what you select and use, my guess is that one can minimize the risks, and that once that's been accomplished, the undesirable parts won't kill you.  That's my guess. But an industrialized world carries health risks. One can take steps to mitigate exposure to things deemed hazardous, (and that bar is often set differently by government and consumers) and after one has done that, the only real healthy attitude is to use the product that seems best in results and lowest in risk (not absent of risk, because you're probably not going to find it, but lowest in risk) and don't worry about the hazards.  I mean... we're smearing goop on our butt holes. Is that going to kill anyone?

ppaseka

LaCh said:

the icing on the cake

and now the icing on the cake. Not unexpected, in fact, long awaited, since my radio oncologist's billing people, working at peak efficiency, are a year behind ....  Just got the first half of my portion of the bill, my co-pays in other words. Because of my out-of-pocket annual caps and my failure to think to delay treatments by a few weeks, I had 6 weeks of treatments that straddled two years (Dec 2012/Jan 2013) and two annual out-of-pocket caps rather than one for this treatment... what it all comes down to is that I owe $8,000. This is almost laughable.  If it were $800 I couldn't pay. Eight thousand might as well be eight million. In any case, I'm applying for Chapter 7 bankrupcty.  I'll spare you all my usual tirade against the U.S. and our health care machine, a source of ridicule and puzzlement to Europeans. Suffice it to say that the next ten years (following approval of Chapter 7 bankruptcy, for which I'll start filing tomorrow) ought to be interesting. Way, way more challenging and life-re-arranging than cancer was. The irony is that aside from this, I don't have a penny of debt. None. No credit card debt, no loans, no nothing. I'm diligently responsible with my money.  It also means that for the ten years that the bankruptcy is in effect (it used to be 7 but now it's 10) any bills I incur have no safety net, no back-up resource; once you file for bankrupcy, you can't file again during those 10 years, so that means no in-patient or out-patient diagnostics, treatments, or therapies that carry co-pays that I can't pay. What an adventure, and I don't mean the cancer; That was the least of it. I don't even think about that any more. This'll be with me for the next 10 years... Oh well.... Nothing to do, but do it.

Treatment in two different years

My wife's cancer was discovered in Oct of 2011. With the  CT, PET CT Surgery etc we meet the out of pockets expenses of 10k.  We started chemo and radiation on the 26 of Dec. 2011. By Jan 30, we meet the max out of pocket for another 10k. That sucked.

LaCh

ppaseka said:

Treatment in two different years

My wife's cancer was discovered in Oct of 2011. With the  CT, PET CT Surgery etc we meet the out of pockets expenses of 10k.  We started chemo and radiation on the 26 of Dec. 2011. By Jan 30, we meet the max out of pocket for another 10k. That sucked.

ppaseka

It absolutely does suck. It's very similar to what happened to me. Had I known then what I know now, I would have waited three weeks... three short weeks and rather than an $8,000 co-pay I would have had a $4,000. Then again, $4,000 is the same as $8,000 to me. Both are so far beyond my reach to pay that the difference between the two doesn't even matter.  These scenarios will play out over and over, to more and more people as long as we have for-profit health care, pharmaceutical and hospital systems. I love capitalism as much as anyone, but health care and profit don't serve anyone except those working for that profit. In this case, the objective to make a profit--the only reason the insurance companies exist-- is not in the best interests of the consumer.  Consumer (patient) interests and the medical insurance companies' interests are mutually incompatable and always will be, and no amount of tweaking (as in Obamacare) will change that. I hate to keep refering to Europe, because their systems aren't free of problems either, but they're different problems than ours, and because literally every person pays into the system on a mandatory basis, everyone receives diagnostics, treatment, therapy and surgery when needed, without receiving bills for any of it; they've all already paid into the system and that's how they can do it that way. If you get sick or injured, you focus on your health, not your money. You don't get kicked out of a hospital before you're ready. You don't lie on an ER gurney, asking the surgeon if he accepts your insurance because he's just told you that you need your appendix removed. These are shameful, egregious scenarios that play out in this country every day (the last one happened to me). So, I feel for you ppaseka, just as I feel for everyone in this country who faces this health vs money dilema. You're right. It sucks.