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Has anyone experienced narrowing of the esophagus due to radiation ?
My husband is experiencing difficulties swallowing 6 months after his last radiation treatment. He just had a swallow test done to see what is going on and he has narrowing of his esophagus. He has only about a quarter of an inch opening. His speech therapist said that it is caused by radiation. Has anyone else experienced this?
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@gareee314 I'm 2 months done radiation to neck and i get burning in the mouth and throat and blisters they said it will get better apparently not if you are still getting this
@ban1952 If your asking about how long the radiation fibrosis progresses I suppose it's different in every person depending on the dose of radiation. How serious and debilitating also depends on factors such as over all health, longevity, etc. Once again referring to my cancer Dr. "Radiation, the gift that keeps on giving". It's pretty much never ending. The radiation is gone but the effects continue. The last time I saw the Dr. for a survivorship appointment he said had they known then what they know now I wouldn't have been given as many treatments.
@ban1952 Everyone is different. You might get better sooner.
@omaest The thing that puzzles me is my surgeon had a pathologist team with him during surgery to make sure the took out all the disease. That said, why did I have to get 30 treatments of radiation plus 3 rounds of chemo? That's the stuff that stays with you the rest of your life.
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2 ReactionsAnother word from my Dr. "Overkill" - What baffles me is if my doctor is now saying it was overkill why is the practice of such heavy treatments still continuing?
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2 Reactions@cskippy did they tell you something wasn’t working mechanically that pushed the liquid/food down? He is very discouraged but did get his appt moved up from February 2027 to August this year.
@omaest
Excellent question.
I struggled with this as well because after decades of trials
and I read through a lot of them, all the evidence points to a cancer HPV P16+ that responds well to treatment.
Current and former trials show about 1/2 of the
standard of care is often all it takes . Half ! So 2-3 chemos and 15-20 radiation treatments often kills it.
Call me cynical but I personally think it has to do with the loss of money that some cancer centers continue to push for maximum treatments.
I was pushed to do 7 chemos and 35 radiation but bailed out of treatments due to swallowing difficulty after 3 chemos and 24 radiation .
Then tested negative for cancer with the blood test NavDX.
It brings to mind the phrase "Question authority."