RedStarWarrior
26th June 2013, 07:39 AM
My great-aunt was diagnosed with leukemia about a month ago. She underwent two chemotherapy sessions before it became apparent that there was something wrong. She had an allergic reaction which shut her liver down. She slipped into a coma and passed away a couple of days ago.
The thing is that she has probably had the leukemia for years and it hadn't really progressed to the point that it was causing symptoms until quite recently (hence the recent diagnosis). She may have lived for a few more years had she not undergone chemotherapy. I hadn't really heard of people having an allergic reaction to chemotherapy (more specifically the pre-radiation medication), but I searched and found a multitude of cases where people have died as a result of the chemo. The most unfortunate were the young women who had masectomies and were believed to be cancer free. They only underwent chemo as a precautionary measure and had reactions resulting in the failure of their livers and/or kidneys and ultimately their deaths.
I don't find it surprising that people can be allergic to the pre-radiation medication, but I find the lack of public reports on the deaths resulting from such reactions to be appalling. I'm also a bit concerned that there isn't established procedures for testing for such allergies prior to undergoing treatment. Are the drug companies or hospital systems keeping this from being made more of a public issue? I mean, chemo itself is rather dangerous, so you'd think that more attention would be paid to all steps in the process.
The thing is that she has probably had the leukemia for years and it hadn't really progressed to the point that it was causing symptoms until quite recently (hence the recent diagnosis). She may have lived for a few more years had she not undergone chemotherapy. I hadn't really heard of people having an allergic reaction to chemotherapy (more specifically the pre-radiation medication), but I searched and found a multitude of cases where people have died as a result of the chemo. The most unfortunate were the young women who had masectomies and were believed to be cancer free. They only underwent chemo as a precautionary measure and had reactions resulting in the failure of their livers and/or kidneys and ultimately their deaths.
I don't find it surprising that people can be allergic to the pre-radiation medication, but I find the lack of public reports on the deaths resulting from such reactions to be appalling. I'm also a bit concerned that there isn't established procedures for testing for such allergies prior to undergoing treatment. Are the drug companies or hospital systems keeping this from being made more of a public issue? I mean, chemo itself is rather dangerous, so you'd think that more attention would be paid to all steps in the process.