So the rest of my first week on Radiation Oncology involved doing the things that the physician does. As such, I met several patients in the clinic, either as a primary consult or as a six month follow-up.
One man I had the pleasure of meeting has a very large tumor in his neck. So large, in fact, that it has started to consume his mandible, and he is having significant difficulty with swallowing (and has lost around 20 pounds in the past 3 months). He also had what we not-so-technically label "hot-potato speech", where he talks like he has a hot potato in his mouth (muffled voice). What was particularly frustrating is that although he had taken the initiative to be seen by a physician in a timely manner (several months before our encounter), the physician he spoke to suggested that the mass was caused by a dental abscess and simply prescribed antibiotics without further investigation. This doctor was not an American-licensed physician, just to make that clear! So he came to us with a very advanced, and aggressive, tumor instead of a smaller, more curable tumor. We will radiate the tumor area after he undergoes teeth extraction. He will likely need plastic surgery to reform the mandible after radiation. But his prognosis is not very good, maybe at around 15-30% 5-year cure. It is horrifyingly sad, knowing that the patient had the initiative to be seen to at the onset of this illness, but it was brushed off inappropriately and has significantly impacted his chance of survival.
I have also seen many patients with prostate cancer, breast cancer, rectal cancer, lung cancer, vaginal cancer, and lymphoma. And I am learning a LOT! While I don't feel like this is where I perfectly belong, I DO love the patients and learning more about radiation. It is pretty fascinating!
No comments:
Post a Comment