 Patient Advocate (old timer, 2000 posts)
Joined: Nov 2002 Posts: 3,552 | Dawn,
it is hard to say. Did you mean fistula instead of fissure? If it's a fistula then the abcess is probably venting itself. Carotid artery involvement, and bleeding from it, would be a more serious complication. Many of us have some degree of arterial occlusion due to the radiation of the carotid. High enough amounts of radiation can damage it. Sometimes the restricted blood flow can be repaired with a shunt.
Gary Allsebrook
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Dx 11/22/02, SCC, 6 x 3 cm Polypoid tumor, rt tonsil, Stage III/IVA, T3N0M0 G1/2
Tx 1/28/03 - 3/19/03, Cisplatin ct x2, IMRT, bilateral, with boost, x35(69.96Gy)
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"You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes" (James 4:14 NIV)
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