Hello to all,

My mum has had the disease since August 2009 but was not diagnosed until January 2010. In August she had only 1 nodule, on her right hand, and by January she had several. The disease seems to be progressing rapidly as she now has nodules on both hands and what appear to be the beginning of cords.
She also suffers form tightness in her hands, which can sometimes be quite painful, and is exacerbated by typing or gripping things.

I have been in touch with a clinic in Berlin who have advised me that she should have radiotherapy to stop the disease from progressing any further and to hopefully prevent her fingers from bending.
The price given was €3000 for the full treatment, on both hands. This would include the CT mapping and two blocks of 5 treatments, 3 months apart. Once you factor in travelling costs and accomodation we have estimated that it would be about €4500 in total.

I know you can't put a price on your health but I wondered if anybody could recommend another clinic or give me an idea of what the average cost is?

I would appreciate any help at all.

Charlotte

Thank you so much for your quick reply.

I was completely unaware that electron beam treatment would be so much more expensive. I will call the other clinics on the list first thing Monday morning and enquire specifically about X-ray treatment. Is X-ray treatment and radiotherapy the same thing, so as not to get the terminologies mixed up?

Charlotte

CNL-Hi Charlotte/ Australia Calling. Try sending an email to Prof Seegenschmiedt and ask if his secretary can estimate the cost. I was treated by him in Essen both on my hands and feet. My treatment was complex with having to treat individual areas due to the fact I have skin grafts on both hands . The prof. did not need a CT scan as he palputates the hand and identifies any nodules and cords.I would regard him as an expert in the treatment of Dupuytrens. He has also written much about Dupuytrens/Ledderhose. Are you aware low dose radiotherapy is best in the early active stage on the hands. I have spoken to other Oncologists here in Australia who have reported good results on cords of the treatment of Ledderhose .(feet) Prof. Seegenschmiedt speaks excellent english and after my experience I would certainly recommend him.He fitted me in at very short notice. I tried to be treated early a.m. which left me the remainder of the day for travel and sightseeing. In my case I paid around Eur. 3000 . I had 4 visits for treatment as I said mine was not the norm. Regards.

Edited 04/11/10 09:31