Hi everyone. I have a concern which I'm going to express tomorrow with my husband's radiation therapy physician. He received chemo and radiation first week of treatment and he looked great! Neck swelling went down remarkably. Overnight prior to starting the second week his neck has swelled up again and is very hard. I know that radiation causes redness of skin and dryness of mouth, but does it cause increased swelling and hardness of tissues as well? He looks way worse and I'm really concerned.
Any first hand info would be greatly appreciated.
Sincerely,
Virginia
wife to Doug, stage IV base of tongue cancer with mets to lymph nodes bilaterally

Virginia,

I had increasing amounts of swelling as I went through radiation, and it took many months after the end of treatment to subside. For a time, I thought I would spend the rest of my life with the bullfrog look, but eventually it went away.

Cathy

Dear Cathy,
Thank you so much for the info. We spoke with the radiation doctor and he said that Doug has an infection going on so we went to the otolanygologist who said that this was most likely caused by tissue necrosis from radiation. It caused a collection of purulent fluid to collect in his neck, causing increased swelling and reddness (like a cellulitis). Anyway, he's on antibiotics so hopefully this will help. I appreciate this website so much as it is a way to find out what others have experienced as well as for others to read these postings to know what people who have experienced this disease firsthand have gone through. Thank you again.
Sincerely,
Virginia

Hi All, Have a question. My neck a hard not near
the scar. Does anyone have that after 15 years?
It has been painfull.
Cathy

Hi Cathy,

Is this something new? What does the doctor say?

Take care,
Eileen

Yes, Haven't seen the Doc yet.
Cathy

Hurts is not good, regardless of what it is. 'Get thee to the doc' ASAP.

Take care,
Eileen

Cathy
You should know better by now, heed Eileen get there yesterday.. Oh by the way try not to worry.
Sunshine.. love and hugs
Helen

Thanks guys, I'm going this week.
Cathy
PS I'm homebound so not easy to get out.

Hi Virginia,
Started posting June 16, so I'm new at this but not to cancer. Had 36 rad treatments Mar-May 04. Noticed fluid seeping from neck. Sounds like what you had. ENT said it was cellulitis infection, painfully drained it, kept me in hospital for 3 days and went on antobiotic augmentin for two weeks. Had to pack 3 times a day for a month. Developed it again to a lesser degree in oct 04. Augmentin cleared it up-no recurrence. Have hardness in areas of neck dissection. ENT held up therapy until Dec 04. Started stretching neck twice daily, massage twicw a day with cocoa butter and use Roxicet at bedtime. This hardness is called fibrosis due to rad. Main thing is, gotta keep exercising the neck. Also heard that a drug called pentoxyfilline (PTX) used with Vit E helps. Haven't tried and ENT never heard of it. Maybe your's has. I'd inquire. Hope this helps and God Bless you in your struggle.

Jim