My husband finished his 35 rounds of IMRT rads on Jan 5,2007 for tonsil cancer.
PET scan showed clear at 2 months.
At his regular checkups the DRS are very happy with his progress.

He is having a zapping sensation that starts at the base of the neck all the way into the groin area. Not really painful but seems to happen when he moves his neck suddenly, such as looking up after typing on the computer.
Anyone else experiencing this?
Thank you for any response
Maggie

Maggie,

Ha!

I have the same thing. My RO says that's his side effect. He says it will go away with time.

I get it when I tilt my head down quickly.

Anyway, it's called by some French name (you can search for "tingle" or "tingling", if I recall correctly, and get more information).

For me, it's not bothersome.

Best wishes,

Chris

l'hermittes, a demylinization of the spinal cord from the radiation. I had it for a few months, it will disappear.

Thank you Chris and RileyMc

What a interesting name for it.

RileyMc
Have family who lived in San Luis for years.
Sure is one of the prettiest places in Calif.
Maggie

I just stated getting this about 3 weeks ago! It is almost like the feeling of putting a finger in a light socket. Sometimes it goes down my legs and sometimes to my hands eminating from the spine. It really freaked me out. I thought it was a late side effect of the cisplatin, but perhaps it is the radiation.

[quote] Had this for three years (under the care of ENT) before final diagnosis[/quote]THAT ENT need to lose his license, at a minimum. How many people has he killed?

While I would like to totally blame that ENT for my misfortune, I certainly took my sweet time getting my tonsils out. I had a CAT scan 9 mos before surgery that said---Cryptic Tonsil, NO EVIDENCE OF MALIGNANCY. I took that to heart and took my time scheduling surgery. I was told I had a 2% chance of it being a malignancy.Great odds , I thought. I was young and healthy, just a little tired. I didn't miss any work. I myself thought it was no big deal. Whoever heard of tonsil cancer?? So I feel I must take part of the blame for not getting this done sooner. A different ENT performed my surgery---imagine his surprise when he discovered it. Imagine my surprise as he told me as I came out of anesthesia. Needless to say I am now under the care of the second ENT. Oh, and I also learned at Dana Farber that CAT scans do not usually pick up malignancies. Wish I knew now what I knew then

Okay---this zap or whatever-you-call it is getting alot worse. Should I see a doctor about it, or wait for my next oncology appt?(a few weeks). I went running today for the first time in a long time and if I had my cell phone with me I would have called someone to come and get me.I felt like my legs were numb and going to give out. Does anyone know anymore about this?

My nick-name is "I'm calling the DR"

Our Cancer Team is fantastic and will always take a call. I just ask the tech ho answers the phone to ask one of the DRs when they have a minute if it is something that can wait till his next checkup. They are fantastic at calling back.
Better to be safe than sorry.

If this is the first time you have run since treatment there may be changes.
He also gets a tickling sensation, like a hair under his shirt, in the same spot once in awhile.
Radiation is a very generous gift.
Maggie

Thanks Maggie--I ran a couple of times in July, until my father became terminally ill and I was caregiver until he passed away 2 weeks ago. I had no problem with the running then. This zapping started about a month ago, just as my father was becoming quite ill. Perhaps the stress of that brought this on??