Stomach Upset months after treatment - Oral Cancer Support

Dad finished his radiation three months ago. His neck where lymphnode was removed is still somewhat swollen (swelling comes and goes down a little). He feels like he is swallowing stuff constantly and his stomach is really upset. Has anyone else experienced anything like this? I know that the outside of the neck was weeping for a long time till it healed. Does the inside of the throat weep as its healing?

The inside of the throat does weep. A combination of dead skin cells, blood and other secretions are swallowed and can upset the stomach.

During recovery he should be regularly seeing a doctor to review symptoms and medications. A lot of the time its helpful to the recovery process to have a doctor look at what's going on just to tell you the recovery is proceeding as expected. When weird things are happening to your body its a relief to hear its all normal.

Certainly whenever there is a change in symptoms like you are seeing now, he should not hesitate to bring it to his doctor's attention.

Thank you so much. We tried to contact his oncologist and nurse called back and said my dad so see his GP and if it's cancer related he can schedule appt. GP is nice but does'nt know and oncologist doesn't have openings for weeks.

Recovering from rads can be a long road. A complete recovery can take a full 2 years post rads. Your father will have ups and downs with some setbacks from time to time during those 2 years. Most patients are doing much better about 4 or 5 months post rads with continued smaller improvements with fatigue, sense of taste and swallowing.

Does your father have a feeding tube? What type of things does your father eat or use in his feeding tube? It could be related to his food or maybe its acid reflux causing throat issues which in turn can even more stomach problems. Im 7 years post rads, 5 years post my third round of OC and have ongoing stomach problems. Im sick more days than Im not with no distinctive answers from my doctors. I do have to admit Im not the best with following this up. Please post if you find anything out about your fathers stomach problems.

Best wishes!

At 3 months out, I would be concerned with infection. Please check your father's temp from time to time to rule that out. With platinum based chemo, it's not uncommon for the body temp to drop during treatment so what was a mild temp before may be more severe.

Also, excess production of stomach acid is something that can happen with radiation and with chemo. If that's what is going on, better to nip it in the bud.

I'm a bit concerned you are getting shuffled around so soon after treatment. Your father's oncology team should be insisting on seeing him for at least the first couple of years if not the first five. A GP won't have an idea where to go on many of the side effects. You should also be able to get in post haste with any issues at this point in recovery.

Hi Robyn,

Telling your Dad to go see a GP for something almost certainly related to treatment is just wrong. It is not like he is complaining about his hand that got slammed into the car doorjam. A GP is not experienced with dealing with post treatment symptoms.

Since he had both chemo and rads, you got two offices to go to and demand an appt right away. Either the MO or RO should deal with this.

Good luck,
Don

I am almost 3 months post-treatment and have stomach issues as well (that no one can figure out). I even posted about this before. Its gotten better to some degree but still going on. A few things to consider: constipation, acid reflux, Cdiff (infection) and ?tube feeds/food sensitivity. I did not have a PEG but drank only Boost VHC for almost 3 months and I think some of my issues were due to the soy or dairy protein in it. I got some relief just from eliminating the Boost. And agree with everyone else here; all sxs at this point should be considered cancer or treatment related, and should be dealt with by the oncologist. Good luck; I hope he feels better soon.

Laurie, I'm confused why no one can figure out your stomach problems. There are a finite number of things it can be and almost all are manageable.

Oh....often stomach problems can't be figured out. So I wasnt very surprised by that. However the good news is that Im all better! All sxs resolved. Appetite now great, taste improving and stomach pain gone. I think it was just a transitional phase after the treatment -- feel like it just did a number on me in so many ways including this one. I also think the VHC Boost I drank for 3 months played a role. Anyway just glad to be better

Great news! I'm glad things have resolved.

Robin,

I first thought I must have misread your post - an oncologist referring a 3-month post tx. patient to a GP first. But no, that does seem to be the case. Do they not intend to follow him for many years?

You must get to the bottom of this. I'm hoping that somehow the nurse did not relay the correct message. Oncology office (MO, RO, or ENT) should want to follow your father CLOSELY for all post tx problems. I never heard of an oncology office that does not have a system for seeing established patients outside of routine appointments. You must ask about this directly because this will not be the last question/problem during recovery.

One example, out of many that can develop, MO told my husband to call immediately with any REFLUX symptoms post tx. She would prescribe meds so as not to irritate esophagus/GI tract further.

Please let us know how you make out.