My mom is having horrible pain in her neck and jaw. She is on fenytenal an morphine to control it. This last January her surgen went in and removed what they thought was causing all the pain, scar tissue. The area felt good for 2-3 weeks and she is back where she started. Also she has a fisstula dead center on her chin. The surgen tried to close it this last Janaury while she was under, but no good. Everyday there is liquid that drains from her chin, about 1/2 a teaspoon. Doctors don't no where is comes from or how to stop it. Has anyone encountered these situations?/ I have more that are odd..but these are the most pressing.

thank you annabel

If Medical doctors are not giving you satisfaction try Chiropractic. My nephew, a Chriopractor in North Alabama, makes pain go away miraculously....read about the procedures he uses.....There may be a Chriropractor in your area that uses similar techniques.....
Darrell

If I were in your position, I would be taking my mother for a second opinion. The pain is something she shouldn't have to deal with, nor the fistula. To much "we don't know" going on with her doctors so it's time to find someone that is experienced with her issues. Good luck with it.
Minnie

Darrell's full of it. Chiropractors are not even considered real doctors. They don't even go to med school.

Some of the reasons a fistula has formed is the body is naturally venting an infection or is a harbinger of a worse unresolved condition like possible recurrence. Take Minnies advise and get a second opinion from a head & neck surgeon.

Have they given her antibiotics? Have they analyzed the discharge? Have they done labwork such as CBC? Has she had an MRI? Tell us the rest of the "odd" ones.

Is she being treated as a CCC?

It would be helpful, to us, to post an abbreviated history in the signature section of her profile like many of us have.

Yes they have tested the liquid, no it is not an infection. She has had a recent MRI and all is clear. This january the doctor went in, while removing the scar tissue and closed up the fistuala all the way to the bone. In no way has anyone said or been very concerned about it. They tried antibiotics just in case but that didn't do anything. They seem to feel they may need to open her all the way up again to figure it out. She does not want to do this, having already done it before. more later...annabel

Annabel,
after my first surgery I had lymph fluid draining from a gland that was not tied/cautrized off well enough and it took another surgery for them to go in and find the leak and seal it off. If she had a glossectomy like I did there is a potential that it is lymph fluid. Have them check that out,
Erik

Annabel,
I agree with Erik. I don't think they have any choice but to open her up and find the cause. Fistulas are never a good thing. It is never a normal condition to have a fistula in the body and it is symptomatic of something. It doesn't sound like a recurrence however, but it is a pathway for infection and other potential adverse effects. I am sure that the surgery would be far less severe than the original surgery in any case.

Closing it up without finding the source was a waste of time. Of course it's going to come back. It's like trying to stop a volcano. I am not even a doctor!

Do you have confidence in her doctors? She's been suffering for an unusually long time - they need to get on it.

I do have confidence...they have done a very good job. I feel they are trying to use the least invasive approach because she is so shattered over this. Opening her back up has been talked about and it is heading that way. Hopefully the surgury will not be as horrendous as the last. We see her plastics doctor in 2 weeks I will bring up what you have said Erick, she did have a glossectomy and you are saying sounds right. Thank you.

Anabel - like Gray has said, and I just want to reiterate, fistulas don't just spontaneously appear without a causative reason. The body needs to get rid of something and creates an opening to do so...this is usually the dead cells and decaying matter from some sort of infectious process and healing. One of your earlier posts caught my attention when you said that they tested the exudates from the fistula and decided it wasn't an infection, and then "they prescribed antibiotics." Bottom line antibiotics are prescribed for infections etc. not because there is no evidence of anything. If they are prophylactically giving antibiotics, this leads me to question if they have a clue what they are doing or have any idea what they might be treating. Antibiotic types are gram positive or gram negative or broad spectrum based on what you are trying to treat. Just putting someone on a broad-spectrum antibiotic without knowing exactly what you are treating does not instill confidence in me.