Nasopharyngeal Follow Up

Christmas

Just want to share some info for after cancer care - the doctors at Stanford Cancer Center are now checking the neck arteries. They have ordered an ultrasound of my neck to get a baseline. They want to check for scarring of the blood vessels due to radiation. They are also suggesting that I check with my internist to see about taking a baby aspirin daily. I finished my treatment March 2004. This is the first check up where they listened to my neck with a stethescope. Before, they were only looking for swollen nodes. I don't want to cause any panic, but survivor care is so new.

TereB

Is there any reason to check the neck arteries? I know radiation causes scar tissue, it never occurred to me that it would happen in the blood vessels.

Thanks for the information. I will talk to my oncologist.

Take care,
TereB

BugHunter

IMRT is so pinpoint that I would think it could now be aimed away from most everything. Not a bad idea for us all to ask about, thanks for the info !

BILL

rogerbfi

My husband has huge fibrosis of the neck, chest, shoulders. He has a broken collar bone (2 places) for several years, they can't fix. He has had vascular problems for several years involving the arteries just shutting down because of the fibrosis. He has been out of treatment from July 2003. I will ask about the aspirin thing. Thank you.