My friend's mother was misdiagnosed by an oncologist.

[no_hypocrisy]

He mistook aspergelosis/fungal disease for Stage IV melanoma in three organs, including the brain.* My friend's mother was prescribed immediate radiation therapy (7 sessions) to her brain before she got her second opinion (with confirmation).

My question: what kind of temporary or permanent damage would seven sessions of radiation do to a 70 year old woman?

* This has been known to happen before. In 1974, Bing Crosby had a benign tumor the size of an orange, along with 2/3 of his right lung surgically removed. It was later determined that it wasn't cancer by a "life-threatening fungal infection" he caught on a safari.

[Irishonly]

1. I don't know

None of us are doctors and we could only tell you what expereinces we have had. I am sorry about your friend's mother. It shouldn't happen ever but sadly, it does. My radiation was done on the right side of my chest and I was recovering from chemo.

[no_hypocrisy]

2. I hope you're well on the road to remission and cure.

My mother died of lung cancer which was rapid and sudden.

[Irishonly]

3. I had breast cancer

I am almost thirteen years cancer free. The tumor encapsulated my right breast and was starting to attach to my chest wall. I had rounds of chemo before and after surgery.

My friend is back at work and is tired but very happy.

I am sorry about your mother. I still maintain that if we spent as much on cancer research as we do on defense for a couple of years, no one would ever die from it.

[Uben]

4. Nothing much to add....

....mainly because I have no idea what effect the radiation has on the brain. My wife had five sessions of radiation on her spinal mets a month ago, and she's still trying to recover her strength. The radiation obviosly damages the muscles to some extent, how and how long, I don't know.
It's awful about the mis-diagnosis, but troubling they would treat it without concrete pathology. But, the lesions on my wife's spine were irradiated before we knew definitively what kind of cancer it was, although they knew it was a cancer. In her case, it needed immediate attention to avoid spreading to the spinal chord and paralysis. So maybe sometimes the perceived need for action outweighs waiting for concrete pathology. But, I guess only a doctor would know. I'd hate to be in that position to have to make the call. I just thank god there are men and women who devote their lives to the treatment of cancer.