Radiated on purpose as an infant in the 1950's, cancer developed years later

Radiation- thyroif

My father was radiated as a child (age 9) to "kill" his malfunctioning thyroid.  He became a chemist as an adult and had many friends who were Drs.  He shunned medication and managed his weight through diet, although over weight his entire life.  He also stayed up on medical journals and learned that the life span of patients who had the type of treatment was approx 30 +/- years.  He maintained a successfully chemistry lab, raised 6 children and lived life to its fullest.  But at 45 he started having health issues and resisted going to the Dr as do many men.  By spring if his 47th year he was losing weight and became easily fatigued but kept trudging on.  In October he had a minor traffic accident and his good friend forced him to go see the Dr.  He was admitted for testing and after 2 weeks was diagnosed with multiple metastises.  Brain, lungs, bone.  By then he could hardly walk and had started hallucinating.  At that time there no real treatments for the cancer and he knew he had it and trudged through as long as he could.  He never let in he was sick and 2 weeks following diagnosis he passed away.  His Dr. confirmed the thyroid treatments are what caused the multriple cancers, origin never identified.  Based on research at the time he knew treatment was futile.  I was 18 the youngest 6.  Fortunately, my mother, also a chemist was able to take over the business until her death at 79.  Unfortunately these stories of medically induced cancers are all too common. It takes too many lives and causes grave hardships on it's victims.  Fortunately cancer treatments are often successful now.  Seek treatment at the first sign of concern and seek out a specialist.  Fight for the life you deserve and don't like the ignorance of older treatments prematurely take you from your loved ones!

wilsonpam said:

Long-term effects of thymus irradiation in infancy

Hello. I just discovered this board, and am grateful to find a community of people who are survivors of childhood thymus irradiation. I was born in 1957 and had several radiation treatments for an enlarged thymus at Spartanburg Hospital in Spartanburg, SC (USA), in the spring of 1957. I wasn't even aware of this until I was college-aged and my mother read an article in Time magazine about a high rate of cancer among children who had had this procedure. I mentioned this to a doctor, who examined me and Lo! found a thyroid tumor which turned out to be malignant. I had the left lobe and isthmus of my thyroid removed in 1976 and have been on synthroid ever since. I did not have any radioactive iodine treatments, although an aggressive endocrinologist 20 years later wanted me to either have surgery to remove the remaining thyroid tissue or to have radioactive iodine treatments.

I haven't had any further problems with my thyroid cancer, thank goodness, but I've had chronic sinus problems all my adult life and multiple infections a year. When I had allergy testing about 18 years ago, the allergist found that, although I didn't have standard allergies, I had a very high eosiniphil count and a tendency to inflammation. He wondered at that time if it might be related to my history of thymus irradiation. About ten years ago, I had an extremely rare tumor in the bladder called a paraganglioma or pheochromocytoma, which was removed by a urologist.

Seven years ago, and again last week, I have had an occlusion of a branch retinal artery (in the eye); I am currently undergoing a slew of tests to try to determine the cause, but the previous slew of tests 7 years ago came up inconclusive, and so far the ccardiologist has not found anything that would make meprone to blood clots. However, in testing this week, my sed rate came back at 63, which is high and means that I have a high amount of systemic inflammation in my body and is often linked to immunodefiencies. Doctors have not yet begun to investigate this result, but I am suspicious that this is related to my zapped thymus gland. Has anyone else had unexplained high sed rates? 

 

Thanks for any insights,

Pam

 

Contact please
Greetings from Stanhope, N.J. I don’t know your status, but I just read a 2013 post you made on the Cancer Survivors Network forum, in regard to having thymus radiation as an infant. I’m wondering if you’d still like to share stories about our experiences. No pressure, of course. Just interested in communicating about an astonishingly misguided medical practice in the 1950s. In any event, I hope you are well. Thanks very much! —Bill Woolley, [Content removed by CSN Support Team]

wrwoolley said:

Contact, please?

Greetings! You responded, in November 2020, to a post of mine in Cancer Survivors Network, in regard to having had my thymus irradiated as an infant. I would like to communicate with you (or anyone else, for that matter) in regard to that topic, if you would be willing to do so. [Content removed by CSN Support Team]  Thanks very much for your consideration. —Bill

Radiation in infancy

Hi Bill

i was radiated in 1957 

would love to chat 

GaDancer said:

Thymus radiation

Both my sister and I received radiation as infants for a "chest rattle", she was born in 1941 and I in 1945.  My sister died at 57 from Type I Diabetes since childhood and Lupus (cause was respiratory failure).  I have had Multiple Sclerosis, Psoriasis, Ocular Rosacea, and Common Variable Immunodeficiency.  I have had non-stop sinus infections since 2005 and now have kidney failure from all the antibiotics.  I now get IVIG infusions once a month.  Both my sister and I had Hashimoto's with nodules.  I lost my son to Lymphosarcoma at age 2.

 

I have been accepted in a study at NIH for hypothyroidism and fungal infections.  It seems that they need to study this large group of people who have problems as adults from radiation treatments as infants.  Those machine emitted massive doses of radiation.

Radiation in infancy

Me too! 1957 to shrink Thymus would love to connect. I've had 2 surgeries 3 nodules in early 20s last surgery in my 30s. I now have them around parathyroid that has shown after exposure to radiation with 3 CT scans 

JConrad1955 said:

Childhood Radiation

I had radiation treatments as a 6 month old in 1955. Not sure how often, apparently I aspirated milk and it made my breathing very labored. I know I was in two seperate hospitals and it took awhile for them to figure out what was wrong. I have been hypothyroid for about 18 years. Have had 3 cervical disk fusions, 1 surgery for bone spurs in the neck. Suffered with neck issues(muscle spasms) for many years, before I injured my neck at work. I had breast cancer 16 years ago. Also a parathyroid tumor in 2011. Have chronic kidney disease Stage 3 diagnosed a year ago, just had kidney biopsy done. My problem today is the hypothyroid disease, symptoms are no longer being helped by levothyroxine. I have goiters, high blood pressure, depression etc. We should have a study done on all our issues as we age. I am 61 years old

Radiation in infancy

We need a study  was radiated in 1957 and had 2 surgeries now I'm 65 and they just found one in my parathyroid area!!

Nonto6 said:

I was irradiated as an infant

I was irradiated as an infant in 1951. I have a history of non-thyroid cancers, vulvar times two (rare in younger women) and breast (in situ) with no family history of cancer.  I am an RN and have always thought thymus radiation and subsequent cancers would make a great research topic.

Radiation in infancy

I had 2 surgeries 3 nodulies 1 tumor last 1987 now have kidney CA and just found nodule around parathyroid area would love to connect with others 

I have an identical twin, which twin got the radiation treatment

My twin and I were born in May 1950.  I was baby A (first born) 5 min. later came baby B.  We are identical.  Baby B alledgedly had an enlarged Thymus and recieved radiation treatment.  I say alledgedly; because no one could tell us apart including our parents.  Baby B had a red spot on the bottom of her foot, so eventually that was the way they identified us.  We are 71 years old.  Baby B has been diagnosed with CLL (chonic lymphocytic leukemia)  I have been diagnosed with Hyperparathyroidism with stage 3 chronic kidney disease.  So which twin got the radiation treatment? I guess we'll never know for sure.  We've come a long way, medically, since 1950.      2021-11-16

I was radiated shortly after birth for "an enlarged thymus gland" in 1944 . My parents recalled I received 3 treatments but no other details. They believed in their doctor and followed his advice. When I was 53 a routine mammogram discovered breast cancer in my right breast. It was small but aggressive so I went through lumpectomy, chemo, radiation and 5 years of Tamoxifen. Four years after finishing treatment I developed lymphedema. It's been 24 years since that original BC diagnosis and, aside from a small basal cell carcinoma on my leg four years ago (successfully treated with MOHS surgery), I've been healthy. Over the years I've had occasional opportunities to speak with cancer specialists and medical researchers at Duke who all connected the dots back to the radiation as an infant. But it's amazing how many doctors never heard about this!!

I don't know how you've been searching Google but I found lots of references today when I was searching. I thought the practice was stopped in the early 50s but I met a fellow breast cancer patient in my local North Carolina support group who was radiated as a baby in the early 60s in some small southern town. Probably similar to the cohort of Thalidomide babies, references in medical texts about this will probably vanish as we ultimately die off.

The lifelong adverse effects of misguided infantile thymus radiation are unsettling, at best. I'd been confident that my thyroidectomy in 1977 would put an end to my cancer issues from my thymus radiation as a newborn in 1953. Seeing reports from my peers, now that we're in our 60s, 70s and 80s, has badly eroded that confidence. I suppose that not only have our bodies responded differently, but that those who administered the radiation did so with differing perspectives on how to do it, not to mention the differences in whatever equipment was used. Those variables have left us all in sort of a cancer "crap shoot," with each of us hoping, helplessly, that our own dice roll won't make us losers as we age. That uncertainty makes me flinch every time I'm faced with the prospect of medical tests or procedures that involve any form of radioactivity. I put no trust whatsoever in the assurances of medical professionals who insist the levels are "perfectly safe." I'm sure that's what my parents were told when I and thousands of others were newborns, having our thymus glands radiated. Additionally, I'm concerned for people who are being given things like "nuclear stress tests" to spot possible heart issues. What will the fallout from today's use of radioactivity be in the decades to come? I shudder to think.