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1 Year NED...BUT

oldvamp
oldvamp CSN Member Posts: 9
in Head and Neck Cancer #1

As of the end of August (2016), I was ready to celebrate my first year after treatment for metastaic base-of-tongue cancer  ... and then I wound up in the hospital again. 

I went in for my bi-monthly checkup with my ENT, got a clean bill of health, and felt wonderful about being NED (although I had been feeling progressively more fatigued over the previous 6-7 months or so).  Two days afterward, I woke up with a sore throat and a 102 fever.  I went in to see my PCP, I had a CAT scan which showed that I had a soft issue infection in my neck.  My ENT immediately had me admitted to the hospital.  Turns out I had cellulitus in my throat from a strep infection which had gone severly septic.  I stayed in the hospital for 6 more days getting bags of hi-potency antibiotics and was told that had I waited a few hours longer my organs would've started to shut down.

Hondo - I have another side effect for your list.  (I had 33 rad treatments and 3 Cisplatin doses.)  I was informed that with H & N cancers, you may be overly suseptable to thrush, as well as to cellulitis in the areas that had been irradiated.  (Another of the perks of having our immune systems short circuited).

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Comments

  • CivilMatt
    CivilMatt CSN Member Posts: 4,727 Member
    #2
    stay better

    oldvamp,

    That is pushing the enjoyment of the NED down to the wire.  Now, that you have those incidents taken care of I hope you start to reap the NED you deserve.

    Matt

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