It is a question for a course I'm taking. A 25 year-old woman undergoes radiotherapy for a cancerous growth in her neck. The radiotherapy destroys the endocrine glands in her neck. What sypmtoms or problems might result and what treatment would she need. I've searched my textbook over and over, but I can't find a clear answer. I'm enrolled in a distance learning course over the internet and it's extremely hard to communicate with anyone who could possibly be of help. I would appreciate any information that you could share. Like the other person answered, the thyroid and parathyroid glands would be damaged. If the thyroid gland is destroyed, the person would have to be on a levothyroxine replacement, such as Synthyroid. This would be a lifelong medication, as you cannot live without it. The parathyroid glands play a part in calcium regulation. The person would also have to be on calcium supplements for life.
Symptoms prior to any pharmacological therapy would include, fatigue, feeling cold, lethargic, mental dullness, twitching of mouth, numbness of fingers/toes. You would also have very skewed lab values, such as an elevated TSH level, low serum calcium level.
Hope this helps a little! well,,,,my first question is why you had radiation and to what organ(s)..........the thyroid and parathyroid are in front of neck....these are major players in hormones and other secretions........probably good to have a T7,TSH,Free T4,PTH
with calcium level.....these would rule out any probems..symptoms could be weight loss,weight gain,anxiety,osteoporosis,muscle twitching,to name a few....good luck.......... http://www.cancer-info-guide.com/ |
