Marvin only has 7 more rad treatments left. But over the weekend his skin on his neck has started to open. It looks real sore but we keep putting on the lotion that they gave us. My question is will they continue his last seven treatment. From everything I read it seems best to get though all the treatments without a break. The doctor saw his neck on thursday and said just to make sure to drink alot of water and use the cream and to keep collars away of it. Wish they would have said something about the shirts (undershirts) rubbing on it sooner. We would have changed that right away.

Hi Barb,

I wish I knew what to tell you about the open sores.
I know Clint was given RadiaGuard lotion to use for the dryness and peeling.
He was given this Silver Sulfadiazine cream as a back up for any areas that were "open" and more severe. Not sure if that is something that Marvin needs or not, but you might want to ask. Clint hasn't had to use it yet.
I don't think they will stop his therapy because of this, though. I'm sure this happens often.
I would suggest making sure the oncologist sees his skin, not only the radiation therapist.
Vicki

Hi again Barb,

I just wanted to make sure you know that Marvin shouldn't put any lotion on his skinright before his treatment.
I read if you do put something on it should be at least 4 hours prior to rad therapy.
Vicki

Barb,

I experienced the same skin condition on the right side of my neck near the end of Tx. I was given RadiaGuard at first but later was given Silvadene Cream which did wonders.

The affected area on my neck was splitting and oozing but really was not as painful as one would have thought to look at it. Now, several months post Tx, it's hard to tell that anything ever happened to that area of my neck. The skin has somewhat of a "splotchy" or dark/light speckled look but even that seems to be fading away. My radiation doc has advised that the skin in that area is now thinner than surrounding areas and to be careful with sun exposure. He advises to use heavy SP 30 or greater cream if the area is to be exposed to direct sunlight.

Bill D.

Barb,
Like others have mentioned, the Silver Sufadine cream helped heal the open wounds very quickly for me. The hospital also gave me a gel-like second skin product to keep the area moist. It WAS excruciatingly painful to get the stuff off before radiation exposures, but I kept the wound dressed from just after my last exposure of the day until just before my first of the next day (my treatment involved twice-a-day rad treatments).

The silver sulfadine helped, but when the wound is oozing/bleeding, you need something to keep it in place. The gel dressings were just the ticket. The product my hospital was using is called Vigilon.
Hope this helps,

Good Health,

Chuck

Hi Barb,

I had a similar experience. During the later stages of radiation treatment I had small lesions on my neck, and my night shirts (various kinds) would rub them and open them up every night, although not much came out of them. They never were a problem for daily radiation - the Erbitux pimples on my face were much more uncomfortable (luckily they cleared up after a while - with medication)!

After treatment, both sides of my neck (front) blossomed into one hugh scab, a little over 2"x3" each side. The back of my neck had some minor lesions also. My RO thought it was the Erbitux. They didn't last very long, although like a knucklehead I rubbed one side off in the shower one day when using a washcloth.

I used the radiation cream daily (I was told to not use it any closer than 1 hour before treatment), especially near the end of treatment (I was a little lazy about it earlier).

For treatment after radiaton, I just kept the scabs moisturized with aloe.

Chris

Thanks for all your answers. They looked at marvin skin today before treatment and gave us some of the silvadene cream. They also said that the area they are treating now is above where the skin has broken so that should help. They didnt want to stop the treatment if they dont have to. We noticed that this new cream is harder to rub in. Should we just lightly rub and let it soak in or do you have to rub it all the way in? I also cut a big neck hole in some t-shirts so they wont touch his neck now. 6 more to go....

Hang in there Barb,
the skin is the first thing to heal! Be careful that he doesn't scratch it and keep a close eye out for infections. If you notice any odor have it looked at pronto.