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Hi everyone, i’m 14 years old (almost 15 in Feburary) and I need some advice. A few days before Christmas (hope you all had happy holidays) I went to the ER because I had some kidney pain. I was worried because a few years ago I had an enlarged kidney of unknown origin. I did a urine test and answered all questions asked and then the doctor came in. He told me in normal cases he’d do a CT scan but he wasn’t going to with me because i’ve been exposed to alot of radiation. When I was 11, my hip slipped out of the socket. In three years i’ve 6 six surgeries and my next one is in June. And after that I will have another one to take the screws and plate out that they are going to put in. So my question is, how much radiation can cause caner. The doctor at the ER informed me that i’m at a much higher rate for cancer not only now but throughout my life. I’ve had three CAT scans, two MRI’s, and close to 50 xrays altogether. Am I right to be scared? And if I get cancer, what kind would it be?
Ouch! Sounds like someone has been getting a good lesson in the health care system. It’s all about trade offs. I’m more concerned about the hypertrophied kidney, than about any increase in cancer later in life. Get the kidney taken care off. Anyway, to answer your question, the newest studies are going to tell you that because of your age and number of CAT scans, you are about 12.5 times more likely to get cancer of any kind. The more ionizing radiation the worse the odds. But like I said, the kidney troubles need to be fixed. Besides, most people will die of heart disease than cancer. If someone cured cancer over night, the life expectancy of Americans would increase by six months. If someone cured heart disease, the life expectancy would increase by seven YEARS.
well you should not worry about that too much the risk is low !
I have Had at least 5 ct scans , over 20 MRI not including the 1 with radiation shots not including a lot of X ray’s too may to count all of the Radiation I been exposed to I have asked the Xray tech & my pain mangement doctor the same qustion when he gave me A shot in my Knee with an Xray mechine they told me not to worry about that due to it’s all low radiation taht I been exposed to & it’s safe so hang in their cuz .
and good luck with your next surgy .
Don’t worry, with what you’ve had you’re at no more risk of developing cancer than the rest of us. The reason your doctor would have decided not to x-ray you anymore is because of govenment regulations we must only x-ray those we feel truely require it. We stick to something called ALARA which stands for ‘as low as reasonably acheivible’ meaning we must keep our patients overall exposure as low as we possibly can. Because you’d already had quite a few x-rays in the past, the doctor just decided it wasn’t a real neccesity. Hope that helps.
Also, MRI’s dont use radiation, they use magnets to form an image so there’s no risk there at all.