Dear Doctor: Does my husband need blood thinners for the rest of his life?
Updated 3:42 AM;
Today 3:42 AM
The main risk of a blood clot is that it can break off and go to the lungs. This is called a pulmonary embolism. Medication can reduce that risk.
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By Dr. Keith Roach
DEAR DR. ROACH: Over a year ago my husband had surgery. A couple of days later he was diagnosed with a blood clot in his calf. They did blood testing on him, and one test came back positive for “one copy of the Factor V Leiden Variant.” We have never heard of such a thing. He was put on 5 milligrams of Eliquis twice a day. We were told to have our children checked and so far, two have tested positive. They were told to make their doctors aware of it prior to surgery and during long periods of sitting to get some exercise.
Dear Doctor: After living with secondhand smoke all my life, should I get screened for lung cancer?
Updated 3:36 AM;
Today 3:36 AM
Lung cancer remains the single leading cause of cancer deaths, accounting for about a quarter of all cancer deaths. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)AP
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By Dr. Keith Roach
DEAR DR. ROACH: For over six decades, I have lived with smokers. My parents smoked around their children inside our family home and inside the family car. Later, most of my siblings smoked. Family gatherings were always smoky affairs. I also married a smoker who smoked in the house until an infant grandson came to live with us. Though my husband started smoking outside, he continued to smoke in the car, sometimes with his window open. A collapsed lung during a biopsy finally led him to quit last year. He has COPD and is on oxygen full time.
Dear Doctor: Did Agent Orange cause my husband’s lethal melanoma?
Updated 6:31 AM;
Today 6:31 AM
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By Dr. Keith Roach
DEAR DR. ROACH: Your recent column on melanoma piqued my interest. My husband was exposed to Agent Orange in Vietnam in 1968. He had a melanoma on his neck removed with lymph nodes in 2007. On July 31, 2017, he was finally declared disabled from exposure, due to damage to his heart and lungs. He died four days later. Could you please comment on the possible link between Agent Orange and melanoma? C.W.
ANSWER: I am sorry to hear about your husband. The sacrifices our soldiers have made are often shared by their families.
Dear Doctor: How could my husband die of thyroid cancer?
Updated 6:08 AM;
Today 6:08 AM
Underactive thyroid treated with medication is relatively common. Fortunately, anaplastic thyroid cancer is rare, only one or two cases per million people per year.
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By Dr. Keith Roach
DEAR DR. ROACH: My husband recently died from anaplastic thyroid cancer. I always thought thyroid cancer was one of the most successfully treated cancers that exist. Could you please explain the difference between anaplastic thyroid cancer and regular thyroid cancer? Thank you very much. M.A.S.
ANSWER: I am very sorry to hear of your husband.
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BY KEITH ROACH, M.D. -
DEAR DR. ROACH: My husband recently died from anaplastic thyroid cancer. I always thought thyroid cancer was one of the most successfully treated cancers that exist. Could you please explain the difference between anaplastic thyroid cancer and regular thyroid cancer? Thank you very much. M.A.S.
ANSWER: I am very sorry to hear of your husband.
Nearly all organs can have multiple types of cancer. Cancers vary by the cell type they start from and by how closely (or poorly) they resemble their original cell. In the case of thyroid cancers, those that are well-differentiated have a very good prognosis. Because well-differentiated thyroid cancer cells still behave to some extent like normal thyroid cells, they will take up iodine, a critical element for making thyroid hormone. Radioactive iodine is an effective treatment, and often used after surgery. The radioactive iodine is taken up and concent