Question? We were originally told that we were going to start radiation 6-weeks after surgery so Dan would be healed. The original surgery was 2/5. Then we had to go in for a second surgery on 2/15 because of a hematoma. Then oral surgery on 2/28. All three of these are right in the radiation path. (there was a 4th surgery, but on the eye - not in the path) So - did any of you have surgery that close to treatment and if so did you have healing issues? And the oral surgeon and ENT mentioned to us that he is now at high-risk for osteonecrosis of the jaw because the tooth that was removed on 2/28 was infected all the way to the bone and since there was not alot of healing time allowed... Our RO said (and MO concurred) that since Dan's particular cancer showed very aggressive, etc. on pathology that they couldn't wait.
Just curious to what you guys thought. Thanks for your feedback.

Michelle,
I would guess that also depends on the type of surgery you had. If you "just" have a small portion cut out it does not take that long to heal, on the other hand if there is a larger area involved or you have an allograft it will take longer. In my case there were 6 weeks between operation and radiation. The only thing that happened in that time was dental evaluation + cavity but no extraction.
One thing you may want to explore is hyperbaric oxygen treatment. It is probably to late for that now (you also need 20+ treatments), but you could do it some time after radiation. This is supposed to help healing and help prevent radioosteonecrosis. You may have to fight with your insurance. I am doing this now 3 dives done 27 to go....

Aggressive is not always bad as long as it is local, it can also mean that it will respond well to treatment. After I had surgery my SCC came back with a vengeance (it was visible). So you can guess what I did .. me and my flashlight. In any case after just a few rads you could see the crap shrivel up!!
I see that you have weekly cisplatin treatments. The dose is lower that for the usual 3x treatment but you may still get ringing and permanent ear damage. Be prepared, IF there are problems they may want to switch to carboplatin.


Best
M

I had my bilateral neck dissection April 14, and began treatment in mid-May, so about 4 weeks or so between. I had also had a prior surgery -- 2 level cervical fusion -- about 8 weeks prior to the neck dissection. I had no problems.