hello again, so my dad who is about 5 months out of surgery, who also had radiation/chemo is being treated once again for infection.. leaking under chin where incision is for the jawsplit.. was red and swollen but that seems to go away once incision leaks.. has anyone expereinced this? doctor did say something about long-term antibiotics? and from being on the antibiotic once a month, it seems..he has developed thrush..
i myself just from reading posts on here seem to wonder if its a reaction to the titanium..

so confused :-(
thanks again..

p.s. he does have his appt tomorrow.

Hi Nicki! I am always sorry to read of your fathers struggles. Poor guy seems to have so many set backs. I understand all too well how hard it is to recover from a mandibulectomy.

Here is some info from my mandibulectomy. Just remember everyone is different and will respond in their own unique way. Ive seen some people sail right thru this surgery and some who struggle.

My body rejected the titanium jaw. I was kept in a medically induced coma for 3 weeks after the original mandibulectomy. About a week after the surgery, my body was fighting the new jaw. My face began to turn black and no matter what my docs did I just couldnt tolerate the new material that was put into my body. They tried leeches to help get the blood flow going but it still failed. Two weeks after the operation, it obviously failed. My docs redid the surgery and removed the titanium jaw. Another week went by before they finally woke me up. I have heard of others whose body also rejected the implanted titanium jaw. I was lucky that I was kept asleep during this time as I was not in any pain. I still feel terrible about the whole situation that my children had to witness. Especially my son, no matter what, he came and sat with me every single day weather I was awake or asleep.

I had healing problems and had a wound vacuum. Has your fathers doctor mentioned this? It worked very well but every time I was able to have it removed, I slid backwards again. Next I did IV antibiotics along with hyperbaric oxygen treatments (HBO). I had the IV antibiotics for about 8 months. I did 40 HBO. Im now about 18 months post surgery and still have some minor healing problems. Ive adapted very well, even to being disfigured. I am much better than I was but I have several side effects that will always be a problem for me.

I hope your father can get to a point where he is well again. It took me a very long time to get to where I am now. It will happen for him too.

Hi Christine, thank you for sharing that with me. Im so sorry that you had to endure this.. i could not imagine.. i know as a child of a parent battling this horrific, vicious disease, it is hard to watch, but we always keep our faith.. i thought that if my dad's body was going to reject the titanium that it would have done so earlier? but yes there is something going on in there, with these re-occuring infections.. the thing is that he looks and feels "ok", yes he does have the shooting pains, but he is controlling them by using the fentanyl patch (yes we did go back up to 50mcg) and a norco maybe every 5-6 hrs, he gets discouraged, but i told him pain is expected.. we will see how tomorrow's visit goes. thank you for sharing your experience with me.. many thoughts and prayers go out to you..
nicki

Hi Nikki
My husband had three bouts with leaking from his chin incision due to infections in his fluids, when the leaking happened he was very swollen. The first time we got strong antibiotics from Mayo Dr.'s (were stronger than our local Dr. 1st ordered) that cleared it up fast. 2nd and 3rd time took longer. Emmett's neck/lower face area has been swollen with fluid since his surgery and when the area leaked the swelling would go down. We were never told it might be a reaction to the titanium just, due to the extent of his surgery the fluid had to find new ways to travel. He tried massage therapy to no avail and is actually starting Occ. Therapy Thurs. to try to resolve it again. Last infection was in March. You bring up a good question I hadn't considered.

Oh boy, those stabbing pains are the worst!!!! I had that in 2 places by my ear and the center of my upper jaw. Those pains would stop me right in my tracks. They are debilitating!!!

I am doing ok! Thanks for your concern. Sometimes a person gets to a certain point where they realize they wont get any better. Thats where I am at and I have accepted this. Your father has a long way to go and he will get there. I feel so bad for him that it is taking so long! When he gets discouraged have him think back to when he first got out of surgery and how far he has come. I am a firm believer that mentality can help a person to heal faster. At least it makes you feel better while recovering anyway.

Best of luck with his appointment tomorrow!!!!!