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Getting frustrated with throat pain post radiation
Now 5 months post radiation. 33 treatments of targeted radiation plus chemo therapy for my stage 3 Metastatic Squamish Cell Carcinoma back of tongue R/S. A few weeks ago my throat pain was subsiding enough whereas I finally started eating soft foods with some good success. This week the pain increased to where I have had to go back on liquids. The pain is either on the left side, right side or back of throat. Sometimes the entire throat hurts like strep. The pain is always present but is really bad when I swallow something. Seems to be 2 steps forward and a few back. My oncologist claims that the pain will eventually go away but cannot provide any kind of time frame. Has anyone with similar treatment experienced throat pain for an extended period post radiation? If so, how long did it last? I was getting really excited and optimistic for a couple of weeks while eating very saucy soft foods. I was finally making progress and then things just got worse again. Nobody said this was going to be easy but it gets discouraging when I appear to be making progress just to fall back again.
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@harleytiger It looks like you are doing everything you can to overcome the damage from the radiation. It does take time, more time than you might think.
What others go though might not necessarily be what you have to deal with. I agree that all the info out there can scare the crap out of you however, we usually only hear the worst from patients. A few report little to no issues at all. I know of a few who didn't make it past the first year and I know a several who were back to normal more or less in two months. We are all unique. We don't all get a diagnosis at the same stage in the disease. Men especially seem to hold off getting looked at by a physician until they reach a point where the issue interferes with life. When treatment begins in those cases it is often very late and results in massive damage.
As for you sir, I believe you are doing just fine.
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2 ReactionsI had 25 radiation treatments and surgery (tonsil and lymph nodes). No chemo. I'm 4 months out from my last radiation treatment. I had no feeding tube and it was rough, but I'm happy now I didn't have one. I can tell you the worst has been the side effects of radiation. I have had some tastes come back, but not like I was hoping. I get to taste something and on the second bite it's gone. I can't taste sweets very well at all, which may be a good thing? I lost about 20 pounds and I'm slowly gaining it back. I go to PT and have my neck heavily worked my a great therapist. I'm improving a lot compared to the others I'm reading about. The other comments I read frankly scare the crap out of me. My heart goes out to them all. I have a small ball in my throat I attribute to radiation fibrosis. I'm trying hard to work that away with massage. My best time is the morning and as the day lingers on my throat becomes little sore and voice starts to fade. Right now, compared to others, I'm not complaining.
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1 Reaction@sart Hello and welcome.
I often wonder how long it takes to get all of our nerves working normally after radiation, or is it the tissue cells rebuilding that gives us such misery at times. For me it was years, but only occasionally and for brief moments. And when that all finally went away, I had to have my mandible replaced which now five years later still gives me brief grief at the most unexpected times.
I guess these pains remind us of worse days behind. Good healing for you. Hopefully it all clears up in the the next year or two.
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2 ReactionsHello I am 9 mths post radiation treatment. I still get the piercing pain every now and then and the dull ache is always present. I do find if I am tired the pain is worse. Eating is still a problem but it is easier. Not easy hang in there
Icy poles are great for pain relief
Had the MRI and they said cancer is gone, but alot of pain from radiation yet. It may be permanent, so we will see
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2 Reactions@roadtecguy, how did your appointment go?
@sepdvm I've been through all that. My peg tube came out on it's own and they didn't put another one back in. I go for an MRI on the 22nd to see if the PET scan missed anything
Hello @roadtecguy and welcome to Mayo Connect. Are you seeing your medical team regularly with these issues? I would reach out to them and ask for more help in managing pain and swallowing. Perhaps a PEG tube thru the stomach wall would allow your throat to rest and heal. I know a lot of people need physical therapy with a swallowing specialist. It doesn't sound normal to have so much pain at this point so follow up with the radiation team and see how they can help. Radiation damage is a continuous issue even years later for many of us.
Amazon has belly “pouches” for protecting g-tubes that keeps them from getting pulled out.
I'm in the same boat. My 35th radiation treatment was on sept. 10th and the pain is showing no sign of letting up. My feeding tube came out in my sleep around the 8th but i was eating mostly soft food so I told them no sense putting one back in, so they agreed at the time, but now it hurts so much that I can't even gargle or move my tongue at all. Looking like another tube is in my near future since I'm having a hard time eating enough to maintain weight. I had to have my bottom teeth removed because they were worried about osteonecrosis, where if they have to pull it out after radiation, the bone will never heal, causing potentially deadly infection.
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