My brother had a radical neck disection 7 weeks ago...he is getting all his teeth pulled tomorrow...and then will start on a 7 week rad txs.

The surgeon put in a trach as a precaution...and he wanted to take it out...but the radiology oncologist says it has to stay in until after radiation treatments.

This is causing my brother alot of trouble and is uncompoftable...just wondering how commom
this is.

Thanks!

My sister started to experience a lot of swelling right away when her rad treatments started and there was talk of a tracheotomy but they tried steroids to bring the swelling down and that has helped tremendously.

Hello absmile,

Sounds like they want to be prepared for the worst case scenairo. What type of radiation will he be receiving? The field radiation seems to have alot more side effects than IMRT radiation.
I remember the trach and didn't like it either.

What is your brothers name? Show him this site so he can better understand all the different treatment options. The Oral Cancer Foundation is
the one site where you can ask any question and someone will answer. Remember we have traveled the path your brother is on. Who better to ask than someone who traveled the path ahead of you.

I wish your brother the best, Thanks for posting.

Dan

Welcome to the Oral Cancer Foundation.