I haven't had to post any questions for a long time but Monday my mom called me and said that her face on the side where she had surgery was a little swollen and tender to the touch. I was not immediately concerned because I have heard that some people experience lymph endema (sp) but is it possible that she could be experiencing this more that 2 years since she completed radiation? I also read somewhere that altitude could cause it to come out and she just got back from England so could it have been brought on from the altitude changes from the airline flight?
She started taking some antibiotics that her doctor gave her in the event of any infection she may get (she still has some exposed bone where they tried to do a skin graph but it did not take. She gets a lot of stuff stuck in there and she had forgotten to use her special mouthwash for a couple days so thinks she may have developed an infection). Could this be the cause of swelling and infection? She made an appointment for Tuesday with her ENT and he doesn't seem very concerned and said that if it gets worse and not better in the next few days that it may be of some concern.
Does anybody have any ideas or comments?
Thank you!

Dani, I'm no expert but it sounds to me as though infection is the most likely cause. Infection in or near exposed bone sounds like it would be quite serious, though, if she had radiation in that area.

I didn't know about altitude aggravating lymphedema. In a couple of weeks,I am flying on a business trip--a fairly long flight for the first time since my surgery and treatment. I have lymphedema at the base of my tongue--I hope that doesn't make it much worse.

I hope your mother's swelling is something temporary that goes away soon.

Nelie

Thank you for your response Nelie. She is actually feeling better today and its not so tender so I think the antibiotics are working so most likely it is an infection. She had a very slow recovery after radiation and kept having problems with the exposed bone but it has never completely healed over so she has times where she gets occasional pain. Her dentist has her taking a baby aspirin daily his thoughts are this helps with any minor pain and also thins the blood which he feels helps the area that was radiated. He said he doesn't think there have been any studies on it but he does recommend it to all his patients. He is a dentist exclusively for head & neck cancer patients.

I will keep everybody posted on what her ENT says on Tuesday.
Take Care
Dani