Hello everyone! Dad went into to see his radiation doctor last week to get the results of his head and neck scan and everything looks good. However, he did find an ulcer in the back of his mouth. (For those of you who aren't familar with my dad's situation, he is 71 years old, finished 7 weeks of rad treatments in May and is having alot of throat/ear pain to the point of still not being able to eat. He has a tough time getting down his shakes.........)Ok, so the rad doctor says the ulcer needs to be biopsied, by the oral surgeon in Columbus, which will take 3 weeks to get in.(this makes us think it's possibly not cancerous, since they are not rushing him in for the procedure) So, the rad doctor gave him prescriptions for more Oxycotin?? I believe that's how it's spelled, and a drug for seizure patients called Neurontin that can also treat nerve pain in some individuals. We are uncomfortable waiting 3 weeks to get this biopsy done, and the medicines are making him feel lousy and constipated!! There are 2 oral surgeons in town that can do the biopsy. So do we go ahead against the rad doctor's orders and get him in to see the local oral surgeons? ALso, he is wanting a PEG put in, thank goodness (he is down to 130 from 168). Will his radiation doctor get this set up for him? We are all so frustrated at having to wait for answers and returned phone calls. And let's figure out what this ulcer is, what is causing it and start to treat it! But they'd rather just write prescriptions. Ok, I am done venting and thanks to all of you for listening. We have learned more about oral cancer from this site than all of the doctors combined!! Love and prayers to everyone!!!!!

Hi,
I had ulcerations in my throat for months following treatment. I had to take pain meds for breakthrough pain to be able to eat or drink. It's finally starting to heal. They have been watching it closely, even ordered a MRI because of it. My last exam was clean. No biopsy was ever ordered.

I did have ongoing problems with Thrush and that will cause ulcerations, pain and difficulty swallowing.

He should be outside the window for pain from the radiation by now. I would ask the doctor to look into other reasons for the pain (like Thrush).

I got down to 109 from 170, never got a PEG and now I'm back up to 130, and putting on a few lb's a week.

The word "ulcer" sounds worse than it is -it could be just an area that is slow to heal.

Hello! Dad went in to see a doctor today and they have scheduled his PEG for next Tues. They said he will have to stay over nite, possibly 2. We thought this would be an out patient type of procedure. Has anyone else experienced this?? Also, a nutritionist will be meeting with him while he is in the hospital. Now if we can just get the ulcer healed up in his mouth, he'll be in good shape! We are hoping to get an appt. before Tues. to see if it is indeed thrush.