Pain and tenderness

Reillypp
Reillypp Member Posts: 20
in Head and Neck Cancer #1

i had state 3 squamous cell base of tongue that metastasized to a lymph node.  Treatment was 40 rounds of rads which ended at end of August.  Pet scan in October and Ned.  I never had pain in the lymph node area until 4 days ago, neck feels very tender in that spot, I can't stop feeling around and am making myself nuts!  I'm panicked that the cancer has returned? Is it too soon? Anything I should do or can do?  Thank you in advance

Comments

  • wmc
    wmc Member Posts: 1,804
    #2
    Pain and tenderness

    Pain and tenderness is probably just your neck reacting to the RAd. The lymph is just doing what they do, remove infection. I would call your ENT and let him know what is going on. I had surgery only and around the six month it got tight and harder to turn my neck. It might not be anything, but let your doctor know.

    Bill

  • Duggie88
    Duggie88 Member Posts: 760 Member
    #3
    Normal

    Funny how our minds work and we refer to our battle in fear of a return battle. A few months back I must have banged my leg on something and developed an infection and the first thing that went thriough my mind was O s--t I got leg cancer. At first we rule all other possibilities out and shoot for the worst.

    I  had cancer (keyword here is had) at the base of my tongue, epiglottis and a few lymph nodes. Five years ago I had a full neck disection and radiation and to this day I can feel different things going in in my neck that at first worried the hell out of me but after a few PET Scans it becomes easier to rule the C word out. Truthfully it has been a year since my last Pet Scan and I visit my doctor at the end of this month and sometimes wish I had a PET Scan just to ease my mind but he said no need for them anymore. (referring back to the keyword had) As Bill said, I would call the doc and let him know just to ease your mind but I'm pretty sure he will say you just had a scan a two months ago and you shouldn't worry. I know easy for him and me to say.

    Enjoy the day....................I do...............every one of them

          Jeff

     

  • Reillypp
    Reillypp Member Posts: 20
    #4
    wmc said:

    Pain and tenderness

    Pain and tenderness is probably just your neck reacting to the RAd. The lymph is just doing what they do, remove infection. I would call your ENT and let him know what is going on. I had surgery only and around the six month it got tight and harder to turn my neck. It might not be anything, but let your doctor know.

    Bill

    Thank you both

    i have an appt jan 2 and they said to wait until then.  Did anyone ever do lymphatic massage or anything ? This double chin I developed a few weeks ago is ugly and wondering if that adds to the tenderness

     

  • longtermsurvivor
    longtermsurvivor Member Posts: 1,842 Member
    #5
    tender spots

    may actually come and go the rest of your life in this area.  the thing to do is to keep your fingers off them cause you make the tenderness worse.  the odds of this being a reocurrance are low, but you can always slip in for an exam to reassure yourself. 

     

    happy holidays

     

    Pat

  • donfoo
    donfoo Member Posts: 1,771 Member
    #6
    long term rad side effects

    It is pretty normal for radiation to gift you side effects for a long time. I'm 18 months past treatment and have daily reminder of the radiation in my neck area. I can feel the scarring left by the radiation where the primary tumor was. I can feel the tightness in my neck where the nodes were blasted. There is an occasional spasm underneath my chin where some nerve/muscle locks up. Numerous daily neck stretches keeps things loose but just enough tightness to be always present. I do massage my neck where it is tight and it seems to help, maybe just mental but whatever works. I'm sure it is nothing serious but do get it checked if it persists for more than a couple weeks.

     

    Don

  • Sailor123
    Sailor123 Member Posts: 97
    #7
    Reillypp said:

    Thank you both

    i have an appt jan 2 and they said to wait until then.  Did anyone ever do lymphatic massage or anything ? This double chin I developed a few weeks ago is ugly and wondering if that adds to the tenderness

     

    Hi. 
    Relax......
    I had a

    Hi. 

    Relax......

    I had a couple of scares with lumps I felt in my neck a few months after treatment ended.  I had myself scared to death.  Neither was any real concern in the long run.  I think its very normal to experience this overeaction.  I have a couple of friends who have had cancer and they say for a few years everytime they got sick they were afraid it was back.  Its probably nothing to worry about, but always see your ENT just to be sure.

    As for the double chin.....Mine was pretty bad for a month or so after treatment.  I had someone show me lymph massage and did it constantly.  Eventually it all went away and now I seldom notice any backup.

    Take care.

    S

Discussion Boards