Michael Douglas To Undergo Chemotherapy For Throat Tumor
August 17th, 2010 - 11:57 pm ICT by Angela Kaye Mason
Aug 17 (THAINDIAN NEWS) The sixty-five year old Academy Award winning actor, husband of Catherine Zeta Jones, and ex-smoker Michael Douglas is preparing to undergo radiation and chemotherapy for a tumor which was found in his throat, and is optimistic that he will make a full recovery after the eight weeks series of treatments.
Dr. Robert Haddad, who is an oncologist at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute located in Boston, Massachusetts believes that Douglas will recover just fine, but that the cancer is most likely at an advanced state. He bases this opinion on the fact that Douglas will have both radiation and chemo, and said that if it were Stage One to Two cancer, then only radiation would be used.
Dr. Haddad believes that this cancer must be stage Four or Five, and states, “My prediction is, based on the information released, that the cancer has spread to the lymph nodes in the neck.” Haddad is not involved in the care of Michael Douglas.
The treatment will not be easy to go though. For the next two months, Douglas will have a very rough time, and will most likely have to be fed through a tube since swallowing will become too difficult. Many cancer patients who undergo similar treatment will develop serious mouth sores, and have to take very strong pain medications, such as morphine to get through the treatment.
Radiation’s side effects can last up to three months after the treatment has ended. Douglas will never again be able to smoke, or even be around second hand smoke, nor can he have alcohol. If throat cancer returns after treatment, it is said t be near impossible to treat again.
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