Childhood Cancer Survivor 60 yr /D at age 3 (starting new)

Formal Appeal for Recognition of Late Effects as Treatment-Linked Vascular Injury in Long-Term Childhood Cancer Survivors

I am writing not just on my own behalf, but on behalf of countless survivors who continue to suffer the consequences of a medical system that has yet to fully accept the long-term effects of childhood cancer treatment.As a 58-year-old survivor of childhood cancer, I have endured decades of ongoing health complications, many of which—such as vascular damage, chronic blood clots, and compromised arterial function—can be directly traced back to the treatments I received in my youth, particularly radiation therapy. These are not coincidental developments. They are predictable biological consequences of the interventions that saved our lives. What is especially troubling is the continued failure of institutions to acknowledge this connection, despite growing, peer-reviewed evidence. For instance, a 2022 article published in Vascular Medicine and archived via PMC9557211 discusses the “response-to-injury hypothesis,” linking endothelial injury from cancer therapy to chronic inflammation, early vascular aging, and a markedly increased risk of cardiovascular disease. It highlights how survivors often present with metabolic disorders, hormonal disruption, and premature atherosclerosis—findings that mirror my lived reality and those of many others. Despite this, I was denied critical vascular surgery due to what was cited as “lack of information.” I have undergone specialized imaging and carry extensive documentation, but my care has still been stalled by systems that would rather isolate each late effect as a separate condition than admit the comprehensive picture: this is a failure of survivorship care. The system granted me disability because these complications impact my daily function, yet it denies care for the very effects that led to that disability. This contradiction is not medical prudence; it’s systemic avoidance.I am not seeking charity. I am demanding accountability.I am requesting that your institution re-evaluate its policies regarding late effects, especially as they pertain to vascular damage from childhood cancer treatment. I am also requesting that the medical documentation I’ve attached to this appeal—including references to national research and survivor data—be reviewed within the framework of post-treatment vascular injury and its long-term implications.If systems continue to separate our complications from their causes, survivors like me will continue to be erased—medically, financially, and historically. I won’t allow that to happen. Thank you for your time and for facing what so many would rather ignore.Respectfully, Joseph Perusic