Diagnosed with Cancer? Your two greatest challenges are understanding cancer and understanding possible side effects from chemo and radiation.  Knowledge is Power!

Learn about conventional, complementary, and integrative therapies.

Dealing with treatment side effects? Learn about evidence-based therapies to alleviate your symptoms.

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PeopleBeatingCancer- Side Effects Program

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After you heard the words “you have cancer,” if your oncologist then said “By the way, long-term side effects from chemo, radiation and surgery could make your life a living hell” would you have undergone conventional cancer therapies when you were first diagnosed?

Conventional therapies- chemotherapy, radiation and surgery, bring a series of short, long-term and late stage side effects. Conventional oncology does not dispute this.

I have developed long-term side effects (SE) from my “safe and effective” conventional cancer therapies. The good news is that I have learned a lot about short, long-term and late stage side effects from FDA approved cancer therapies.

The bad news is that I’ve learned a lot about short, long-term and late stage side effects…

The list of my side effects below is not ALL of the possible side effects from chemotherapy and radiation experienced by cancer survivors. But the list below covers a lot of the established, serious, and life-threatening side effects.

The key to remember is that side effects can be minimized or avoided all together in many cases. The sooner that the cancer survivor begins evidence-based, non-conventional therapies to manage his/her side effects, the better off he/she will be.

The challenge is these therapies are often evidence-based but non-conventional aka well-researched but not approved by the FDA.

My short, long-term and late stage side effects include:

  1. Short-Term Side Effects-
  2. Chemotherapy-induced Aging-
  3. Chronic Non-Cancer  Pain
  4. Risk of Treatment-related Secondary Cancer
  5. Corticosteroid-induced Avascular Necrosis
  6. Chemotherapy-induced cognitive dysfunction-Chemobrain
  7. Chemotherapy & Radiation-induced Nerve damage-CIPN and RILP
  8. Chemotherapy-induced cardiomyopathy-heart damage
  9. Chemotherapy-induced Hypertension- 
  10. Chemotherapy-induced Atrial Fibrillation- Afib
  11. Chemotherapy-induced Heart Valve Damage-
  12. Chemotherapy-induced Deep Vein Thrombosis- Blood clots-
  13. Chemotherapy-Induced Hemorrhagic Cystitis-irratible bladder
  14. Radiation-induced DysphagiaDifficulty Swallowing
  15. Radiation-induced Xerostomia-Dry Mouth
  16. Cancer Survivor Mental Health- 

In keeping with my mantra “I wish I knew then what I know now…” I created the PeopleBeatingCancer Side Effects Program in order to turn my experience and research into actionable therapies for the millions of cancer patients and survivors who have already, or will eventually develop short, long-term and late stage side effects from their own chemotherapy and radiation therapies.

Scroll down the page, post a question or a comment if you’d like to learn more about your own side effects.

David Emerson

  • Cancer Survivor
  • Cancer Coach
  • Director PeopleBeatingCancer

Recommended Reading:


Chemotherapy-induced Short Term Side Effects-

Chemotherapy can cause unpleasant side effects, although many can be treated or prevented, and most will pass once your treatment stops.

It’s difficult to predict what side effects you’ll get.

Here’s a list of many of the common side effects, but it’s unlikely you’ll have all of these…”

Cancer survivors: Late effects of cancer treatment

“Cancer survivors: Late effects of cancer treatment

Learn about late and long-term effects of cancer treatment so that you can take more control of your health as a cancer survivor…

What are late effects of cancer treatment?

Late effects are side effects of cancer treatment that become apparent after your treatment has ended. Cancer survivors might experience late effects of cancer treatment years later…

Treatment Late effects
Chemotherapy
  • Dental problems
  • Early menopause
  • Hearing loss
  • Heart problems
  • Increased risk of other cancers
  • Infertility
  • Loss of taste
  • Lung disease
  • Nerve damage
  • Osteoporosis
  • Reduced lung capacity
Radiation therapy
  • Cavities and tooth decay
  • Early menopause
  • Heart and vascular problems
  • Hypothyroidism
  • Increased risk of other cancers
  • Increased risk of stroke
  • Infertility
  • Intestinal problems
  • Lung disease
  • Lymphedema
  • Memory problems
  • Osteoporosis

What late effects might people who were treated for childhood cancers experience?

If you underwent cancer treatment as a child, you may be at risk of many of the same late side effects of treatment as people who were adults during their cancer treatments.

But you may also be at risk of additional late SE. That’s because children’s bones, tissues and organs are growing rapidly during treatment, so cancer treatment can interfere during this critical time of growth.

As with late SE in adult cancer survivors, late SE in childhood cancer survivors will vary depending on the type of cancer and type of treatment. Additionally, the age at which you were treated may determine what late SE, if any, might be of risk to you…

Long-term health impacts of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation inform recommendations for follow-up

“However, hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) survivors are at risk of developing long-term complications, such as

  • endocrinopathies,
  • musculoskeletal disorders,
  • cardiopulmonary compromise and
  • subsequent malignancies.

These complications have a direct impact on the morbidity and mortality experienced by HSCT survivors. Two-thirds of HSCT survivors develop at least one chronic health condition; while a fifth develop severe or life-threatening conditions. HSCT patients who have survived for at least 5 years post-transplantation are at a fourfold to ninefold increased risk of late mortality for as long as 30 years from HSCT,..

  • Cardiovascular risk factors & cardiac disease
  • Delayed pulmonary complications
  • Endocrine complications
  • Fertility
  • Musculoskeletal complications
  • Chronic kidney disease
  • Visual impairments
  • Subsequent malignant neoplasms
  • Chronic disease burden after HSCT
  • Late mortality

 

 

 

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1 comment
John DeRugeris says last year

I just tried signing up for your course, but somehow got disconnected after I gave credit card info. I am very interested in what you are doing. Please get bank to me at the email I posted. jderugeris@aol.com

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