Is anyonets till on thithread? My husband is having all sorts of post radiation mucus, swallowing probs and painswhich we. Lead to believe would get better by week 7 or 8 and we are week 7 now and no relief yet, any help appreciated. have a managed to get his intake up via peg so he gained 2 pounds last week and willcontinue that, he is very down despite taking antidepressants. Thanks Cherylwb
Hey mate
Great words. Made me feel heaps better. I am coming up on Pet/CT scans post treatment and ear / shoulder pain is worrying. But it is important to know about effects to all surrounding tissue.
Your diagnosis and journey are very very close to mine..... Hope I'm clear and can get on with it.... Side effects and all.
Phil from Australia
My husband was diagnosed with cancer in tonsils, lymph nodes in neck - had surgery, 34 rad treatments and now is in worse pain than before... none of the pain meds are working... went to pain management doc.. his med was terrible... We are told he probably has trigeminal neuragia from damage to nerve from extreme radiation... the meds they recommended are terrible, now they recommend morphine and or nerve block procedure!!! I have been reading up on Acupuncture and like what I am reading... do the same... you may be surprised!! Good Luck, L.D.
Hi
My father 74 yrs old was heavy smoker & he also diagnosed vocal cord stage 2 cancer in RIGHT SIDE...he had just finished 35 radiation before 3 months... But from last one month he got swelling in LEFT SIDE which is moving around whole neck at present. Doctor said its coz of radiation only. Now swelling decrease day by day but he is having pain in throat in Rt side..so i also worry...Doctor gave me same reply that its coz of radiation & heavy cold weather...
So same as u i sharing my experience & hoping some kinda same experience from others ...i feel its usual NOT to worry rt ?!!
God Bless to Everyone !!!
Gayatri
Tim - my husband had squamacell cancer in tonsils/lumph nodes in neck and surgery in July 2012.. and then 34 Radiation treatments ending on Oct 3, 2012.. Since then the pain is getting worse and worse in thre throat. and head/ear... He can barely eat... pains so bad when he tries... has lost 50 lbs... was thin anyway no skin/bones... scary.. Went from 160 to 110.
They want to put in a feeding tube... he is resisting... we are now trying about 4 ensures daily and as much smoothies, soft foods as possible to gain some weight back... if not, feeding tube..
What can we do for the severe pain in throat.. how can we heal this????
Scans do not show any cancer at this time... Thank you... L.Dee/Allan
Thanks Jim I needed to hear this, my radiologist oncologist keeps saying it should be better after two weeks. I am almost two months out from 35 rad treatments.
Please tell your husband that the feeding tube is a life saver. I had cancer at the base of my tongue and in my parotid gland. I had surgery, 3 rounds of chemo, and 33 radiation treatments that also ended in October of 2012. I couldn't swallow anything, the pain was so bad. Over the treatment/post treatment process I've lost over 40 lbs, and I'm only 4'10" tall. I had a feeding tube placed--it's a very simple procedure and I was only sore for about 3 days--and almost immediately began to be able to eat enough and to stay hydrated. In addition, my insurance covered the cost of the food (Jevity) and supplies. (That Boost gets expensive!) I had my tube removed last month, and I'm now wishing I'd kept it in. I'm experiencing extreme pain in my ear,under my jaw and in the base of my tongue. It is most likely damage to the nerves caused by the radiation. The pain makes eating a huge effort; I find trying to get enough nutrition to be exhausting. I cannot get away from the pain. I've seen my primary care physician, my radiologist, and my ENT/surgeon. I've tried 3 kinds of pain medication and so far the only thing that works is 2 Neurontin plus 1 Vicodin. The combination, though, leaves me half out of it. I cannot take it if I need to work or function for the day. I have an MRI scheduled for Wednesday. I truly don't think they will find anything except scar tissue. I absolutely do NOT want the scan to show anything, and yet the pain is so unrelenting that I almost wish something would show up on the scan that the doctor could say, "Oh, THIS is the problem. A simple surgery should take care of it." I'm terrified of becoming addicted to pain killers, but I now understand how it could easily happen. Bottom line, I strongly recommend the feeding tube. I returned to work with my tube and it really wasn't any big deal. You can still eat whatever you can or want to swallow, but nutritional needs are easily met.
I wish I had kept my feeding tube in for a few more months (at least). Eating
/ swallowing was such a chore for many months.
Wish I had better news about the pain. I use heat and meds for some relief. WHen it's bad nothing works.
I still get the same old attitude from the MD's. They make me feel guilty about the pain meds. I guess they perfer I stay in pain rather than get some relief from the medication. Funny they never have any other options.......
Jim
I went through 28 weeks of radiation with no problems. Tumor on vocal chords. The doctor said Im 6-8 weeks behind on recovery. My ears hurt to no end. They say nothing when I tell them. My throat is inflamed keeps me up at night choking from too much mucus coming up. Wish I could find a way too sooth my throat alittle. Any ideas?
My Dad just finished 42 radiation treatments and it has been 8 weeks since...Now he seems to have more pain swalling and a severe pain in ear to..the doctors say it is nerve pain to ear and it should go away but from what i read it might take a long time......
Hello,
My husband is a Stage 4 Throat cancer survivor- 1 year post treatment. He is a rock star! We are blessed he is cancer free but he is palgued by many side effects of the chemo and radiation. L Ear pain, excessive mucous, very bone dry throat, tinnuitis in L ear, chemo fatigue. The biggest issue is really accepting that he is cancer free because he had no issues until a lump popeed up overnight on his L jaw and 3 days later, he was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer. I love him and will do anythign to help but it seems the side effects he is experiencign drastically affect his everyday life. Cancer absolutely sucks.
I am glad I have found this site and wish each of you good health!
HI MR way
I had 40 radiation treaments and 8 chemo session for base tongue cancer starting in July . I finished on September 11-2013.. I too had severe ear/headackes on the left side of my head ( the side of my tongue the ttumor is on) the Radiologist told me it would subside as the treatments progressed. It did after about 3 weeks the pain was gone. When I finished my treatments they slowly returned. I am baerly able to swallow... water doesn't hurt any more and I can swallow soups etc...so it does get better. mine seems to be improving some just very slowly seems to tracking in reverse.order of the symptoms from the beginging. I am having trouble with pain mamagment as well. my next pet will be in December sometime and hopefully all will be better.... I still have a lump on my tongue that will need reduction/removal at some point and it seems to be causing more problems with my swallowing than anything else.... tha may be beacuse thats what causes my pain.... so hang in there I seems to be making some slow but positive steps fro me... knock wood !!!
do you get allot of pains in your ears now.im nearly 2 years post and my ears are really bad