soft tissue swelling in neck

wifeforlife

well...I'm back... I read these posts every day and usually my concerns are addressed without me posting. But this one I need some imput on. My husband has finished his treatments, had a follow-up scan and scope and there are no signs of cancer. Funny when they tell you you have cancer it hits you like a brick wall...when they tell you it's not there it comes off one brick at a time..
My concern is the swelling he is having in his neck, it seems to be in the soft tissue, but it is uncomfortable for him... he says he feels a knot (or lump) in his throat... but the Drs have told us to expect this and everything is fine.
Is there anythign I can do to improve this condition? someone mentioned to me that maybe massaging his neck would help ... but I'm not sure how to do that.
Please help if you can!
WFL

fsdman

Hi,
I had that issue after
Hi,
I had that issue after tratments. I looked like a pelican. Massaging helped but basically it just rerouted itself and it went away after a little while. Not an issue now 12 mos post treatment.

dennis318

lump in throat
just came from doctors yesterday had a scope down my throat. I had radiation and chemo I had the lump in the throat, he thougth maybe a sinus or some other infection he gave me bacterial drugs called ciprofloxacin for two weeks gonna see if tis works, not much of a voice come back..still waiting. i had some botched up surgery from a previous doctor, then they finally found the tumor, and we radiated and chemo'ed it, long road.. i strunggle to catch a full breath in the morning, drink water to get things going, take hydrocodones to get my taste buds going, and spit up the nights phlem...no really much postivre, they tell me time???? Does he have a bad odor coming from his mouth or throat?

ratface

dennis318 said:

lump in throat
just came from doctors yesterday had a scope down my throat. I had radiation and chemo I had the lump in the throat, he thougth maybe a sinus or some other infection he gave me bacterial drugs called ciprofloxacin for two weeks gonna see if tis works, not much of a voice come back..still waiting. i had some botched up surgery from a previous doctor, then they finally found the tumor, and we radiated and chemo'ed it, long road.. i strunggle to catch a full breath in the morning, drink water to get things going, take hydrocodones to get my taste buds going, and spit up the nights phlem...no really much postivre, they tell me time???? Does he have a bad odor coming from his mouth or throat?

Several possibilities
Hi WFL

It sounds like you have read some post on 'Lymphedema swelling" and this could be the case and there are a lot of threads on here that talk about this.

Another less known condition fits many of the symtoms you describe. I am copying and pasting the wikipedia definition for you. You are right about the "brick at a time" theory and sometimes it's more like a grain of sand at a time. Patience, Love , and understanding which you seem to have an abundance of will take you far. research this:

A seroma is a pocket of clear serous fluid that sometimes develops in the body after surgery. When small blood vessels are ruptured, blood plasma can seep out; inflammation caused by dying injured cells also contributes to the fluid.

Seromas are different from hematomas, which contain red blood cells, and from abscesses, which contain pus and result from an infection.

Seromas can sometimes be caused by a new type of partial-breast radiation therapy, as explained in a recent article in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics.[citation needed]

Seromas can also sometimes be caused by injury, such as when the initial swelling from a blow or fall does not fully subside. The remaining serous fluid causes a seroma that the body usually gradually absorbs over time (often taking many days or weeks); however, a knot of calcified tissue sometimes remains.

Seromas are particularly common after mastectomies, abdominal surgeries,and plastic surgery like face lifts. The neck area is usually affected and swells requiring it to be drained. Many patients find that it makes their initial recovery period more difficult, and some need repeated visits to their doctor to have the seroma fluid drained.[1][unreliable source?]

wifeforlife

dennis318 said:

lump in throat
just came from doctors yesterday had a scope down my throat. I had radiation and chemo I had the lump in the throat, he thougth maybe a sinus or some other infection he gave me bacterial drugs called ciprofloxacin for two weeks gonna see if tis works, not much of a voice come back..still waiting. i had some botched up surgery from a previous doctor, then they finally found the tumor, and we radiated and chemo'ed it, long road.. i strunggle to catch a full breath in the morning, drink water to get things going, take hydrocodones to get my taste buds going, and spit up the nights phlem...no really much postivre, they tell me time???? Does he have a bad odor coming from his mouth or throat?

odor
He did have a very bad odor. But the Dr and many posts on here told us to basically get over it...it would pass... and it has. We took the Biotine mouthwash and put it in a pocket size spray bottle he could carry with him... it would spray just enoughto moisten and freshen his mouth but not enough to have to spit. He still carries that with him. Seems verytime we get over something...we get a new surprise!... now it's the swelling. Thanks for the input!

GRAVEY

wifeforlife said:

odor
He did have a very bad odor. But the Dr and many posts on here told us to basically get over it...it would pass... and it has. We took the Biotine mouthwash and put it in a pocket size spray bottle he could carry with him... it would spray just enoughto moisten and freshen his mouth but not enough to have to spit. He still carries that with him. Seems verytime we get over something...we get a new surprise!... now it's the swelling. Thanks for the input!

My ENT explained to me that
My ENT explained to me that my neck swelling was from the radiation treatments and that it was because my lymph nodes were burnt from the radiation and constricted, so the fluid that would normally travel through them is getting caught with no where to go and building up in my neck area. Massage was the suggestion for me also. He basically described to "stroke" my neck. Im actually considering some sort of vibrating massage unit to see if it may help more than what I could do.

Good luck and God Bless,


GRAVEY