It is not unusual for swelling to take place temporarily. Make sure your Doctor is aware of your concern next time you go in. There are several treatments left I am assuming. The fourth week is when mine began noticeable shrinking.

She had chemo yesterday and it was a little smaller. I think the Doctor said that the radiation causes swelling just like James said. I guess she thought it would start shrinking right away.

Hi Shelby,

I've had:

Cisplatin (3 infusions, 3 weeks apart) with 8 weeks of radiation. No hair loss, but since I had a BoT primary and 4 involved Lymph nodes (both sides of throat), I did lose my full beard - but not my mustache!

The beard fell out, but only below a line from the corner of my mouth to the bottom of my earlobes and extended to the other corner of my mouth.

And all of that fell out within less than 45 minutes while I had my cat on my lap. I only noticed it when I got up to go the the bathroom and saw my beard on my shirt, and not on my face where I'd have preferred it to be.

When I had my first recurrence, I got treated with Taxol/Carboplatin. I lost my hair - all of it - eyebrows, mustache, chest, and everywhere else.

All of that came back rather quickly after my chemo ended. I don't know of anyone who has not had their hair return, and it usually comes back better than it was before it fell out.

I have used a pill-form of Chemo that goes by the name "Xeloda," which is enzymatically converted to 5-fluorouracil in the tumor, where it inhibits DNA synthesis and slows growth of tumor tissue. (according to wikipedia.) I did not lose any hair during that treatment, although I was told it might happen.

In fact, I'm currently treating another recurrence with Xeloda, I'm in the second week of my third (of four) cycle, and have one more to go before my next PET scan. I do get a bit of hearing loss with each chemo regime, but no nausea or hair loss.

Hope this info helps.

Bart

Sister had chemo September 3 and she's wondering how long the nausea lasts. She said the mess don't seem to be working. I don't think she has started using the peg yet....

Usually its ivwr in a week but some people are sick all the way through bring it to the attention of her medical oncologist. Best of luck

Hi

So my sister had all her treatment and it's been almost 5 months and the lump on her neck is still there. They haven't given her a pet scan because they said it was too soon so they said if it's still there in May they will operate to take it out. She was offered a needle biopsy to see if there was still cancer there but then she read on the internet that it's not a good idea because if there is cancer a needle biopsy would make it spread. for those of you that had a lump on your neck, how long after treatment did it go away?

You can't get a meaningful answer that way, people's reactions to cancer and it's various treatment modes in unbelievably variable.

Now that that's been said, tell her to get the needle biopsy, and do so ASAP. A fine needle biopsy could save her life, and will NOT spread her cancer.

Most people who've had radiation have a 3 month scan to determine whether they've gotten it all or if there are areas of concern that require close monitoring. It is not too early to have a PET or CT though the PET sometimes gives you false positives. However an experienced Radiologist can usually identify areas that may be cancer. I personally would not wait. I would not want them to do a needle biopsy (I agree that cancer can sometimes crawl along the path of the needle - I would want a scan ASAP. tongue cancer can be persistent and is harder to kill than HPV related BOT cancer and since she didn't have surgery I would be concerned with every day that node is there. Has it gotten larger?
Best of luck.

no it's a little smaller...

Then maybe it's just a reactive node. It still wouldn't hurt to have a scan... but cancer can really only be detected by biopsy. Though a needle biopsy still concerns me. hugs