Hi Miss Vicki,

Welcome to the forum -- I'm sorry to hear about your multiple battles, but hope this time is a success.

When I had radiation, it included both external beam and implants, and it took many months -- probably more than a year -- for the swelling to go away entirely. However, it was gradually going down during that period so after a few months it was less of a hindrance from the standpoint of eating. (I was recently looking through some old family pictures to try to track what happened with the swelling over time, but I can't seem to find any -- I guess because I was trying not to be in any pictures around that time.)

I didn't have a feeding tube at any point, so I can't comment on how long you might need to have that in place. There are a number of people on this board who have had tubes for extended periods after radiation and may have thoughts on that.

Just curious -- have you had all three incidents of cancer handled by the same team/medical center, or different ones?

Cathy