Lorie, I also had concurrent radiation (48 rounds) with 4 Cisplatin chemo treatment. Although it was stated in my consent form that one side effect of treatment to head and neck cancer was hearing loss, my oncologist told me that in my case,since the area of radiatio was not very near the ears, such side effect was unlikely to appear. In fact, I heard some unpleasant sound for quite a while after treatment, sound like a train passing near me or a bell ringing. Such sound occurred several times a day and lasted for a few weeks. Then it graduallly disappeared and now my hearing is back to normal.I was quite worried at that time.For nasophargyneal (?sp) cancer patients, they have a higher risk of hearing loss. A friend of mine who was diagnosed with this cancer at almost the same time as me found out after 1 year of treatment that his left ear is gradually losing function. He just received about 30 rounds of radiation treatment, no chemo.In your husband's case, it is important to protect the ears from further damage. Watch out if travelling by air can pose a problem.

Karen.


Karen stage 4B (T3N3M0)tonsil cancer diagnosed in 9/2001.Concurrent chemo-radiation treatment ( XRT x 48 /Cisplatin x 4) ended in 12/01. Have been in remission ever since.