I agree with all you say, Charisse. You have to exercise a certain caution, of course. Still, I think a positive mind frame - and getting on with your life is another vital side to living with DD. If you mind is set on it (as mine became for a short period when I first found out about it) I think you almost tempt the DD's fate. The massage has made me totally relaxed about the disease and now I can just get on with my own life which is grand. I have much to thank Stephen for. (That said, I do think if I was much younger - say in my 30's or 40's I would still be tinged with concern --- especially when it came to ANY consideration of the RT.)

Vis a vis RT, I think a concern - especially at 30gy per extremity - should be raised for the future potential - especially when it is the hand that is being radiated - and most especially in people over 60 who almost certainly have compromised cervical spines to some degree, i.e., with almost certain disc degeneration and foramina challenges. The potential for brachial plexus nerve disturbance in that light in the longer (and possibly shorter) term is significant but without current measure. I have a feeling that degeneration at that age (to wit: my own) may well - certainly in my case - be a contributing factor vis a vis the DD in the first place. I have no proof of this ... but I do suspect it. I really do think that the oncologists / radiologists - be they in the UK, Germany or elsewhere - should do clinical studies on those patients for whom their RT fails ... and not just in the itemisation of their determined successes - especially in light of potential further reaching nerve damage. I met with a leading spinal surgeon today who said that 'the cure can sometimes be worse than the disease itself'. Too right.

For this reason, I am all the more grateful to Stephen and his magic touch.

Edited 04/30/16 11:14