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Severe long term side effects from head and neck radiation
Head & Neck Cancer | Last Active: Feb 7 3:49pm | Replies (54)Comment receiving replies
Hello @mysister Welcome to Connect and the Head and Neck cancer group.
It seems you are in a difficult situation, getting help for your sister from miles away. Basically we here are patients, former or current, learning and helping each other by experience our medical teams do not possess. We may have ideas for specific issues. But let us get some additional information.
Is your sister a citizen of Germany on their healthcare? Or is she a foreign national or military?
Can she get to a clinic or hospital well versed in head and neck cancers, as this may be a return of cancer?
It is also not uncommon to have pain/ nerve issues from radiation years later, which is often dealt with by physical therapy, although this seems beyond that a bit.
Perhaps someone here will be able to help you with specifics. Don’t hesitate to ask. Starting your own discussion was an excellent way to get the ball rolling.
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@hrhwilliam Thank you for your response. She has seen specialists, been to two different pain clinics, had some physical therapy. She’s on a feeding tube for life because of pain and stiffness in her jaw, severe dry mouth, swelling of the lips and tongue, intense pain, burning and feelings of pressure in the face, mouth and neck. She has plates in each side of the jaw due to necrosis of the bone, a skin graft on her neck due to a draining dental abscess that would not heal, tooth loss, near death from sepsis due to an infection in the area where the feeding tube attaches to her belly. These are just some of the issues. She is not able to speak in a way that people can understand due to limited mobility or the mouth and tongue. If she could get control of the pain and intense uncomfortable sensations she would be able to manage the rest.