Vickie & Gita,

It sounds as though the abcesses you have described might possibly be fistulas. Heather had 2. At first, they acted like abcesses.....filled with pus, drained, filled up again. But eventually, they opened and didn't close, then proceeded to open wider and wider until she had 2 gaping holes in her neck.

A fistula is an unnatural pathway in the body. In Heather's case we know that one of her fistulas led directly from her throat to the side of her neck because of a swallowing test. When she swallowed, instead of going down her throat, the blue tinted apple juice ran out through the hole in her neck.

Heather's fistulae never healed because the cancer was never controlled. Fistulae sometimes clear up on their own and sometimes they can be surgically corrected, but probably not until the tumors are shrunk and the cancer is in remission.

Of course, this is just an assumption on my part. It is very likely that you are dealing with abcesses and not fistulae.

Rainbows & hugs, wink
Rosie

Was primary caregiver to my daughter Heather who had stage IV base of tongue SCC w/ primary recurrence. Original diagnosis August 21st, 2002. Primary recurrence March 18th, 2003. Died October 6th, 2003.