#74138 05-09-2008 12:17 PM | Joined: Dec 2007 Posts: 138 Senior Member (100+ posts) | OP  Senior Member (100+ posts)
Joined: Dec 2007 Posts: 138 | I am now almost 11 mos out of treatments. My neck got quite splotchy from the radiation which has not gone away. Some docs are telling me it will fade with time and others are telling me it will always be there. Any comments on this? What have some of you experienced?
Nine years out. New normal with limitations, but surviving and living life to the fullest.
| | | | | Joined: Mar 2007 Posts: 55 Supporting Member (50+ posts) | | Supporting Member (50+ posts)
Joined: Mar 2007 Posts: 55 | My neck doesn't look "splotchy" per se, but it is redder than the rest of my skin - I look like I've got a tan line. Since I live in Florida, that doesn't seem that unusual so I haven't worried about it. It seems darker along the scar line from my neck dissection...
Lisa
36 years old at diagnosis
SCC of the tongue T2N2bM0 Stage IV
post hemi glossectomy and neck dissection (3/28/07), finished 6 weeks of radiation and Cisplatin x2 6/19/07. Biopsy taken from right side of tongue 7/17/08 - results showed infected abscess and no return of SCC!
| | | | | Joined: Apr 2007 Posts: 27 Contributing Member (25+ posts) | | Contributing Member (25+ posts)
Joined: Apr 2007 Posts: 27 | I'm 10.5 months post treatment. My neck discoloration is fading but very, very slowly ... at about the same speed as the rest of the recovery. But it is progressing and I'm really happy about that.
marilyn
dx: Stage 3 T2N2aM0 Left tonsil, base of tongue, 1 left node. HPV positive.
tx: Tonsilectomy (left) then Cisplatin x2, Erbitux x7, IMRT x35
Phase 3 clinical trial. Completed 6/28/07
| | | | | Joined: Apr 2007 Posts: 20 Member | | Member
Joined: Apr 2007 Posts: 20 | You're on the same schedule and TX as my guy and he has a bit of a "tan" from the IMRT all the way around his neck. The doc are all over the map about how much it will fade, though most seems to agree it shifts over the first two years or so into what ever is going to be permenant. He uses a light lotion with sunscreen every day on it and we make very sure to use lots of sunscreen and cover-up when we go out. The skin is still sensative so we're careful to pick gentle stuff to put on it. He get burned there VERY easily.
~thalia
| | | | | Joined: May 2007 Posts: 622 Likes: 1 "Above & Beyond" Member (500+ posts) | | "Above & Beyond" Member (500+ posts)
Joined: May 2007 Posts: 622 Likes: 1 | Hey 007 My dermatologist told me that the spots and "tan line" would probably fade in time, but not to count on it. Also to keep the hi-powered ( I have some SPF 70 ) sunscreen on at all time when out in the sun and wear a hat or something to help keep the sun off.
18 YEAR SURVIVOR
SCC Tongue (T3N0M0) diag 06/2006.
No evidence of disease 2010
Another PET 12-2014 pre-HBO, still N.E.D.
�Remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet. It matters that you don't just give up.�
Stephen Hawking | | | | | Joined: Mar 2007 Posts: 55 Supporting Member (50+ posts) | | Supporting Member (50+ posts)
Joined: Mar 2007 Posts: 55 | Wow - SPF 70?! I had no idea anyone made anything that heavy duty! What does it feel like on your skin? Does it absorb well or does it feel heavy?
Lisa
36 years old at diagnosis
SCC of the tongue T2N2bM0 Stage IV
post hemi glossectomy and neck dissection (3/28/07), finished 6 weeks of radiation and Cisplatin x2 6/19/07. Biopsy taken from right side of tongue 7/17/08 - results showed infected abscess and no return of SCC!
| | | | | Joined: Feb 2008 Posts: 341 Platinum Member (300+ posts) | | Platinum Member (300+ posts)
Joined: Feb 2008 Posts: 341 | I have never heard of 70 either. I have 50 and 60 for the kids - that's the highest I've seen and that's what I was planning on Dan using when he finally goes outside.
Michelle, CG to husband (45), DX 2/08 Stage IVa Adenocarcinoma Salivary Gland (T2N2bMO)
Parotidectomy & ND 2/08, Tumor margins not clear, 4 of 30 nodes positve for cancer,
TX IMRT 39x, cisplatin 7x (completed 5/1/08),
PEG (4/22 - 7/9), No port. Currently in remission!
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