#74486 05-16-2008 12:49 PM | Joined: Jan 2008 Posts: 41 Contributing Member (25+ posts) | OP  Contributing Member (25+ posts)
Joined: Jan 2008 Posts: 41 | hi everyone! A Dr, not the RO, told me that in cases of reradiation the patient could suffer from heavy hemorrhage, particularly in the tongue area, that is full of vessels, that could lead to death. have you heard of it? till now i have heard so many other side-effects, but not that and not so life threating.
sophia
| | | | | Joined: Mar 2002 Posts: 4,918 Likes: 67 OCF Founder Patient Advocate (old timer, 2000 posts) | | OCF Founder Patient Advocate (old timer, 2000 posts)
Joined: Mar 2002 Posts: 4,918 Likes: 67 | I was always told that radiation was a trip to the well that you could make only once considering the high levels of greys that you get in treatment. (There is a maximum lifetime dose issue) But perhaps with the reduced greys that people get through IMRT, that hard and fast rule may be changing. At some point the radiation levels begin to cause their own cancers. You can cause irreparable damage to an area of tissue through excess levels, and it would not surprise me - since the manifestation of that is the creation of non healing wounds - that what you have been told might be right, but I have never heard this before.
Brian, stage 4 oral cancer survivor. OCF Founder and Director. The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between, the leader is a servant.
| | | | | Joined: Sep 2006 Posts: 1,357 Likes: 5 "OCF Canuck" Patient Advocate (1000+ posts) | | "OCF Canuck" Patient Advocate (1000+ posts)
Joined: Sep 2006 Posts: 1,357 Likes: 5 | i had radiation to the left side in 2004 - 32 treatments, and had a further 30 treatments to the right side in 2008. No hemmorages, so I didn't suffer from that.
FYI
Donna
Donna,69, SCC L Tongue T2N1MO Stg IV 4/04 w/partial gloss;32 radtx; T2N2M0 Stg IV; R tongue-2nd partial gloss w/graft 10/07; 30 radtx/2 cispl 2/08. 3rd Oral Cancer surgery 1/22 - Stage 1. 2022 surgery eliminated swallowing and bottom left jaw. Now a “Tubie for Life”.no food envy - Thank God! Surviving isn't easy!!!! .Proudly Canadian - YES, UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE IS WONDERFUL! (Not perfect but definitely WONDERFUL)
| | | | | Joined: Sep 2006 Posts: 8,311 Senior Patient Advocate Patient Advocate (old timer, 2000 posts) | | Senior Patient Advocate Patient Advocate (old timer, 2000 posts)
Joined: Sep 2006 Posts: 8,311 | My RO told me over a year ago that he would not want to radiate me again because my blood vessel wouldn't be able to take it and I would bleed to death trying to stop the cancer. Luckily I didn't have to make that decision (yet anyway) but I still said to myself that I would want to try anything to avoid death by cancer.
David
Age 58 at Dx, HPV16+ SCC, Stage IV BOT+2 nodes, non smoker, casual drinker, exercise nut, Cisplatin x 3 & concurrent IMRT x 35,(70 Gy), no surgery, no Peg, Tx at Moffitt over Aug 06. Jun 07, back to riding my bike 100 miles a wk. Now doing 12 Spin classes and 60 outdoor miles per wk. Nov 13 completed Hilly Century ride for Cancer, 104 miles, 1st Place in my age group. Apr 2014 & 15, Spun for 9 straight hrs to raise $$ for YMCA's Livestrong Program. Certified Spin Instructor Jun 2014.
| | | | | Joined: Nov 2002 Posts: 3,552 Patient Advocate (old timer, 2000 posts) | | Patient Advocate (old timer, 2000 posts)
Joined: Nov 2002 Posts: 3,552 | For anyone interested I responded to this same question in Sophia's "Dilemma" thread in this same topic forum.
To expound a little bit, there have been a few here who have been warned about a potential rupture of the carotid artery. I am not sure that has actually happened to anyone here, but it is certainly a potential risk, particularly if the tumor is wrapped around it, as tumors often do since cancer survives by locating blood sources.
Gary Allsebrook
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Dx 11/22/02, SCC, 6 x 3 cm Polypoid tumor, rt tonsil, Stage III/IVA, T3N0M0 G1/2
Tx 1/28/03 - 3/19/03, Cisplatin ct x2, IMRT, bilateral, with boost, x35(69.96Gy)
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"You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes" (James 4:14 NIV)
| | | | | Joined: Jan 2008 Posts: 41 Contributing Member (25+ posts) | | OP Contributing Member (25+ posts)
Joined: Jan 2008 Posts: 41 | thank you very much for the input. my problem is concentrated mostly on the left jugular vein, where the glands that were taken off had already rupture the vein, and as i have already taken off the one on the right side my Dr. told me that we can't have both removed.
sophia
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