Anyone have Radium treatment to their sinuses as a child?

[CathyA]

Sometimes my mother did really stupid things. This is one of them.
When I was 8, she took me to a "doctor" who put radium rods up my nose. Supposedly, it was to help with sinus problems.
Apparently this was given to alot of people in the service back in the 50's. Now they (and I) have an increased risk of cancer of the thyroid, throat, etc.
Fortunately, only after a couple of these treatments, I almost passed out because of the things they did afterwards, and my mother didn't take me back.
Seems sort of barbaric to me. I just keep hoping he was a quack and didn't really use radium.
Anyone else have this treatment in the 50's?

[Florence]

I had a radium treatment to remove a birthmark when i was a baby. The "treatment" left a horrible burn scar and I too have an increased risk of cancer as a result. I'm sure our mothers thought they were doing the best for us by trusting what the doctor said. Not nearly so trusting these days...

[bunnys]

I know you're angry but she didn't know any better.

My mother and father raised 5 children in a home where both parents smoked and 3 or those children went on to develop asthma, allergies and chronic bronchitis--even though the children didn't smoke.

The worst part is that my mother raised her grandson in the same second-hand smoke environment but by then the effects of second-hand smoke were well-known. That didn't deter her. She didn't care. Her adult grandson now has issues with allergies and asthma.

Your mother didn't know any better and was doing the best she could. And she stopped when she realized what she was doing was causing harm. You can forgive her.

[CathyA]

I suppose what you said would make sense Bunnys, if she hadn't done alot of other neglectful/unthinking stuff. Sometimes she seemed to border on having Munchausen by proxy.
But I do realize that people just weren't aware of certain dangers back then and may have done some things without ill intent.

[JaneV2.0]

I know you're angry but she didn't know any better.

My mother and father raised 5 children in a home where both parents smoked and 3 or those children went on to develop asthma, allergies and chronic bronchitis--even though the children didn't smoke.

The worst part is that my mother raised her grandson in the same second-hand smoke environment but by then the effects of second-hand smoke were well-known. That didn't deter her. She didn't care. Her adult grandson now has issues with allergies and asthma.

Your mother didn't know any better and was doing the best she could. And she stopped when she realized what she was doing was causing harm. You can forgive her.

Back when I was growing up, second-hand smoke was everywhere. My grandmother--a non-smoker--had emphysema. I suppose that could be hung on my grandfather (a moderate smoker) but he was mostly at work and they had a huge house, so I'm more suspicious of something in her early environment. Most of my peers seem at least as healthy as later generations. Asthma incidence has increased many-fold as fewer and fewer people smoke. Maybe doctors back in the day had the right idea--they used to suggest asthmatics take up smoking. ;)

I'm glad my family wasn't quick to follow medical fads o'the day, or I wouldn't still have my tonsils. And I'm not a DES baby. I did irradiate my feet a few times at shoe stores, though. And amazingly, my feet are fine--better than most, probably. Today I watched a program explaining how the Maya protected sarcophagi by painting them with deadly cinnabar, which I have been known to lick. (My father had a mercury mine for awhile. If you dampen the ore you can see bright red veins of cinnabar.) I remember spraying DDT as a child and handling insulation containing asbestos. And we played with the mercury that leaked from broken thermometers. Most of us are exposed to this and that throughout our lives and do OK. Personally, if I had persistent asthma, allergies, or the like I'd look to dietary or immediate environmental influences.

[bunnys]

Yes, I did the feet xray thing in the shoe stores too. I wonder what impact that had.

[CathyA]

What really scares me is all the ct scans I've had over the years, before I found out how high the radiation in them was. I've probably had about 6 to my head, and 10 elsewhere. :(