yesterday i was asked by a hospital worker to talk with a head&neck cancer person who is in their 6th week of 7 week treatment. the purpose was to encourage them to continue treatment.

this normally is easy for me to do. however in this case i was quite shocked by what i saw. the patient has a tumor in the jaw region and extending into the throat. an area of skin from the cheek down to the thoat has a raw open sore that a nurse had just treated with some ointment. a drip was ongoing to reduce the chance of infection, yet i was told that there was already some infection.

i was later told that the person has lopus and until recently was not getting sufficient protein so the skin was slow healing. a peg is now in place.

yet i wonder,
when is radiation delayed to allow skin to heal?
and
how frequently do folks get such painful sores?

during my treatment, i did not see anyone in such poor condition.

cu,
larryb