Dan has been experiencing left sided jaw pain (tongue and neck cancer side) for about a week now. We can't feel any lumps but there is pain. He does have an oncology appt next week, but just wondered if anyone has experienced this. He has some swelling on that side, but I think it's always swelled on that side since surgery and treatment. He does not feel like it is teeth related. Any thoughts would be so appreciated.
God bless,
Debbie

Debbie,

Do not jump to conclusions based on my situation. My swelling was an additional tumor that we subsequently removed. It manifested itself in an inability to masticate well, a chronic pain from the top of the ear to the base of the jaw and an increased pain during swallowing. My radiation oncologist didn't seem concerned, but the surgeon had it biopsied three weeks later. Good Luck.

Debbie
We have had an ongoing problem with jaw pain also but it has been diagnosed as TMJ.
Another problem we exprienced was a swelling in front of the ear in the same area. The swelling went down after acouple of days and the ENT diagnosed that as a blocked salivary gland.
Whatever it turns out to be it scares the hell out of you until diagnoses.
Let us know , we will be thinking about you.
Marica

Debbie,
I had swelling for several months after radiation was over. It turned out to be swollen tissue. If Dan had his lymph nodes removed then it is very normal for the side of the neck to swell up, as the fluid that is usually dealt with by those lymph nodes has nowhere else to go. It takes a while for the body to learn how to 'deal' with that fluid. It does improve gradually. I have recently experienced jaw pain on the operated side, and it turned out to be apical abscesses which were infected. I had the pain for several weeks before the abscesses became apparent. I am told that they occured because I have several dead teeth resulting from the radiation to that area of the jaw.

You and your husband will worry about every twinge or anything abnormal with his mouth or face. It is normal!! I think that you just learn to live with it. Just make sure that you get everything checked out. That is all you can do.......and try to think positive.

Love Debbie
xxxx

Debbie, I too have jaw pain that ebbs and flows on a schedual of it's own. The first time it happened I worried, now it is just part of the "new me" along with the neck muscle spasms, ear funkyness, headaches, ocasional thrush, thyroid issues, dry mouth, gray hair, etc.

Debbie,

I had a little scare a few weeks ago with swelling of many nodes in my left side neck and behind my left hear. There was no explanation and I had a PET scan just a few days before. I noticed when the weather got real cold overnight, it was very painful. This past week I have had a lot of tingling and itching on the left side. It seems like there is something different week by week but nothing to be alarmed about that I know of.

I did not have any surgery, just radation/chemo. I have heard from several nurses that the Cisplatin affects joints by causing deterioration. I have now developed arthritis in my right hip and am having surgery on my left shoulder tomorrow to remove some arthritic bone on my collarbone. I believe it was from the chemo but don't know how to know for sure.

I hope things are settling into a good routine down in Bama for you.

Ed

I am so so glad to read all of this, well not GLAD, you know what I mean. My left side is so swollen right now. It kind of feels hot to the touch too. And it isn't the side that I had the most work done on. Go figure. I was just about to post this question when I read all of these. I was thinking it is because I am trying so hard to get the mouth to open that I may have just over worked it since it never gets any movement. I still haven't recieved any word about the therabite or the dynsaplint. Though I have contacted both. I sure could use one of them...I wish there was a place here I would already have it. Thanks for the answers....Miss Vicki

Miss Vickie,
I got my therabite through ATOS medical. My ENT faxed them a prescription, and I had to pay in advance ($404.00) They then filed with my insurance, and I was reimbursed 90%. Here's their web address. http://www.atosmedical.com/
They're located in Wisconsin, and it took about 4 days to get mine once they got my credit card number. I was stuck at about 20mm and now I'm at ~35mm (2 fingers plus ) It has made a significant improvement in my range of motion.

Your ENT or ONC should be able to write you a prescription.

Hope this helps.

Good Health

Chuck

Vicki, oh my gosh, you should have gotten some kind of feedback from dynasplint or therabyte by now. I am so sorry they haven't contacted you, do you need the # again or do you still have it. They are located in Maryland so I can always call for you if you want. Let me know! God Bless You, Carol

Regarding the vendors in question, a couple of years ago I contacted them and never, ever received a reply. So I did it myself using my fingers and now can open quite normally. Some people have used popsicle sticks. So Vicki, keep trying with whatever you have on hand. It can be done!