Head and neck, what to keep an eye out for

SuzJ

I guess first is death of your thyroid. It's fairly important in the grand scheme of things. Get it checked at least every 3 months. Dead thyroid - exhaustion

Speech therapy - who are they kidding, it's just to make sure we can swallow, do it, it's important.

Baroreceptor dysfunction - usually find you have this when your blood pressure doesn't keep up when you stand (common name - orthostatic changes)

It happens at the most inconvenient times, stand too quick, splat, reach up, splat, go out in the heat, splat. You get the picture. The key is ice cold water!

MAST cells - also caused by radiation. A form of allergy cells but amplified a LOT.

Can be life-threatening, need Benadryl and prednisone on hand.

Radiation - this new normal is killing me, can we stop now?

wbcgaruss

Thank you, Suz for being open and giving a heads up of what to be on the lookout for.

I am always glad to see your posts because they are down-to-earth insights and you always have something very helpful

I am sure not a complete list but some of the most serious for sure.

I would add that any unusual changes in your body especially around the H&N area don't ignore them if they persist for more than a week get in to see your doctor or ENT. Most times it is nothing but be safe rather than sorry, and if cancer has returned and it is something getting on top of it while it's still small is everything.

Also dental care, you should be absolutely meticulous about your dental care especially if your saliva glands were affected and you have reduced saliva flow.

Also here is something that happened to me to make people aware of this possibility.
I was feeling some soreness around my neck and stiffness that didn't go away.
Called ENT and he would see me but had me get a CAT Scan with contrast in the meantime.
Scan done on Friday Sept. 9, 2022.
I got a call the next evening Sat. Sept 10 at 7:30 PM to come to the hospital at Hershey PA that evening as soon as I can. Not sure if I can get a ride I said I didn't know if I could make it this evening, he said then get here right away tomorrow morning and check in the emergency room.
Quite a surprise for me, but I did get a ride up that evening.
It turns out something was seen on the scan and has to be treated quickly with intravenous antibiotics or else it gets an outside covering on it and the antibiotics can't get to it.
It is an area between the throat and the spine.
They thought I had a Retropharyngeal Abscess
Retropharyngeal abscess is a potentially life-threatening infection involving the retropharyngeal space which requires prompt diagnosis and aggressive therapy.
As it turns out after furthur examination by the spine team with an MRI between them and my H&N team they determined it was not a Retropharyngeal Abscess but something was there and the antibiotics got rid of it non the less, I imagine just an abscess.
This is most common in children but I believe it is a possibility for H&N folks or for some other kind of abscess such as the one I had.

https://radiopaedia.org/articles/retropharyngeal-abscess?lang=us

Also here is a list of late effects of treatment to look over and be aware of the possibilities. Radiation and chemo the gifts that keep on giving.

Cancer survivors: Late effects of cancer treatment

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/cancer/in-depth/cancer-survivor/art-20045524

Wishing You The Best

Take Care, God Bless

Russ

katlou

SuzJ, I thought maybe I could help as far as the thyroid gland issue and I know there are many others who have had radiation to the head and neck area that also have problems with their thyroid gland now. I never had radiation for my cancer but 30 years ago I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's thyroiditis which is an autoimmune condition where antibodies attack the thyroid gland and it caused fatigue for me. I was prescribed Synthroid for the condition and it has helped. I have been able to function with this condition with this medication.