Hello everyone. My dad was diagnosed with stage III tongue cancer in July. Since then he's completed 6 out of 7 chemo treatments and all of his 6 1/2 week radiation treatments (2x a day). He was released from the hospital yesterday after a two week stay. Fever, white blood cell low, etc. His legs started swelling about a week ago. The swelling is below the knee all the way to his toes. We're not really getting any answers from the doctors except keep them elevated. Has anyone had this problem after treatment ended (or during treatment)? Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!!!!!
Thanks,
Tracy

Hi, Tracy, my husband did not have leg swelling, but he did have swollen hands and fingers. The only thing that has helped him was steroids. He did not get on steroids until 6 wks after rad txs had ended tho. Hope your Dad gets past this soon. Amy

Amy, did anyone tell you what causes the swelling? Why steroids and why 6 weeks later?

Thanks
Tracy

Tracey, none of John's Doc's could pinpoint the cause of the swelling[altho John did have arthritis and joint problems before cancer]. The feeling we got from the Doc's was that it could be related to the trauma of radiation. I think they waited so long to start the steroids because they wanted to see if the swelling would go away on its own-it did not- besides, steroids are serious drugs so they are not prescribed in an offhand manner. Amy

Tracy-
Many things can cause the swelling. The steroids certainly can and the chemo drugs can cause the retention as well. How is his blood pressure? Isn't it frustrating to not get a straight answer from the doctors on this type of a thing. I can relate to what you must be feeling. At least he is home and on his road to recovery....slowly but surely!
Tami

Tracy,

Has your dad had any chest scans done? You know, just to rule out another problem.

Glenn

Thanks for the replies. Yes he has gone thru all of the scans and eveything looks good. Like Amy's husband, he has arthritis. All of the medication he was on for this was stopped before treatment. We thought it could be the arthritis flaring up again but the docs believe it's from the radiation. His blood pressure is also ok. And yes it is VERY frustrating not getting a straight answer from the doctors. Hopefully this will end soon.

Tracy