Painful Scope

Joel4
Joel4 Member Posts: 263 Member
edited March 2014 in Head and Neck Cancer #1
Since I have been diagnosed in April I have had 4 scopes through my nostril and down my throat. My 4th was this past Monday after going over my 3 month post surgery PET scan results.
Up until this last scope they have not been painful but merely a tad uncomfortable, but on Monday it hurt like hell. It was like a giant toothache in my brain. The doctor said that everything down there was swollen and red and he assumed that I was fighting a cold or viral infection. He was unable to see anything so the scope was aborted. I told him that I don't think I have a cold but we did add a dog to our household two weeks earlier. I am allergic to dogs and cats but deal with it fine with Claritan but I'm thinking the dog pushed it over the top.
Has anyone had an experience like this? I now have to find out if it is allergies or something else and will likely have to find a new home for this beautiful dog the family has just started to bond with.
The scopes are an important part of my check ups and I'm scheduled for another scope in 4 weeks. Any thoughts?

Comments

  • RushFan
    RushFan Member Posts: 224 Member
    #2
    Sorry to hear...
    about the pain you experienced. I've only had a handfull of fibreoptic scopes. Both my surgeon and radiologist have used the scope to look around and each time they spray both nostrils with either lidocaine or another numbing agent and a decongestant. So far I have only had mild discomfort.

    I have allergies too. Shortly after my treatments I got a sinus infection. No fun when you are that weak and that beat up. I felt like it set me back a week, and I lost a week of recovery.

    Hopefully your sinus inflamation will calm down and this will be an isolated incident.
    Hang in there.

    Chuck.
  • Hondo
    Hondo Member Posts: 6,636 Member
    #3
    Hi Joel


    I too have had some that hurt like hell and other that were no problems, I am not to sure why but think it is the way in which the doctors pushes the probe down and pulls it back out. One time at MD Anderson it left me bleeding for a week or so after.

    Take care,
  • johnlax38
    johnlax38 Member Posts: 136
    #4
    Sorry you were in such pain.
    Sorry you were in such pain. It sounds like your sinus was irritated by something defiantly. Does your ENT or oncologist use any numbing spray to help with the discomfort? My oncologist just wet the end with water and went to town on my throat. It was uncomfortable but not painful. However, my ENT used some sort of numbing spray and I couldn't feel a thing.
  • Skiffin16
    Skiffin16 Member Posts: 8,305 Member
    #5
    Orry for your ordeal...hope
    Orry for your ordeal...hope it works out. I'm a dog lover so hoping you can keep dog also. I have a deviated septum, it looks like an S on the scans. It's always a challenge for them, as I usually have sinus problems...

    I usually opt out of the sprays just to save time. It's usually doable for me and doesn't take that long... having to drag out the EEEEE takes a little tole though.

    We have two chocolate lab sisters...

    Best
    John
  • Joel4
    Joel4 Member Posts: 263 Member
    #6
    Skiffin16 said:

    Orry for your ordeal...hope
    Orry for your ordeal...hope it works out. I'm a dog lover so hoping you can keep dog also. I have a deviated septum, it looks like an S on the scans. It's always a challenge for them, as I usually have sinus problems...

    I usually opt out of the sprays just to save time. It's usually doable for me and doesn't take that long... having to drag out the EEEEE takes a little tole though.

    We have two chocolate lab sisters...

    Best
    John

    Thanks
    Thanks for the replies guys! Yes, he uses the numbing spray but it didn't help this last time. I'm chalking it up to allergies and tonight the dog is going back to its previous owner.
    What sealed that deal is I just learned that I'm getting a scope again this Monday and a BOT biopsy at the end of the month. The BOT lit up a little too much on both sides on this recent PET and while they think it is nothing they would rather be safe than sorry especially since they are taking such a conservative approach with me ( surgery only, no rads or chemo ).
  • Landranger25
    Landranger25 Member Posts: 210 Member
    #7
    Joel4 said:

    Thanks
    Thanks for the replies guys! Yes, he uses the numbing spray but it didn't help this last time. I'm chalking it up to allergies and tonight the dog is going back to its previous owner.
    What sealed that deal is I just learned that I'm getting a scope again this Monday and a BOT biopsy at the end of the month. The BOT lit up a little too much on both sides on this recent PET and while they think it is nothing they would rather be safe than sorry especially since they are taking such a conservative approach with me ( surgery only, no rads or chemo ).

    Over a dozen!
    I have had over a dozen nasal scopes since diagnosis. ENT always sprays nostrils with both a decongestant and a numbing agent. (Sometimes even sprays the throat if he plans on lingering down there deep with it) Uncomfortable yes but not really painful. Not sure what happened with you but am sorry you had to go through it. I see my ENT every 4 weeks and he always looks in with the scope and like John says, I too get tired of dragging out the EEEEEEEEEE"s. My ENT also "palpates" my BOT tumor site every visit. I really hate this but know it is important. Always at the end of the visit, fresh surgical glove, open wide and Doc reaches into my mouth while holding me in a semi-headlock and presses his finger down on the base of my tongue. (Hands like boxing gloves!) Anyways, soft and squishy is what we want. So far so good. Good luck.

    Mike
  • PattyNC
    PattyNC Member Posts: 65
    #8
    Joel4 your dog is a real looker
    Hope you are able to keep your beautiful dog. Love is the best possible medicine & is very healing ... so let's keep our fingers crossed that it turns out to be something other than allergy to the pet, and that it is something easily treated. Pets are fountains of flowing love (& sometimes other liquids as we all know).
  • Skiffin16
    Skiffin16 Member Posts: 8,305 Member
    #9
    Landranger25 said:

    Over a dozen!
    I have had over a dozen nasal scopes since diagnosis. ENT always sprays nostrils with both a decongestant and a numbing agent. (Sometimes even sprays the throat if he plans on lingering down there deep with it) Uncomfortable yes but not really painful. Not sure what happened with you but am sorry you had to go through it. I see my ENT every 4 weeks and he always looks in with the scope and like John says, I too get tired of dragging out the EEEEEEEEEE"s. My ENT also "palpates" my BOT tumor site every visit. I really hate this but know it is important. Always at the end of the visit, fresh surgical glove, open wide and Doc reaches into my mouth while holding me in a semi-headlock and presses his finger down on the base of my tongue. (Hands like boxing gloves!) Anyways, soft and squishy is what we want. So far so good. Good luck.

    Mike

    LOL, I Have to Resist
    OK, you that know me and my sense of humor (I'm my own biggest fan, LOL). I have to resist the urge to make comments about the size of your ENT's hands and not having any other male type exams....

    You gave me way too much informtation to not start thinking of the humor in those statements.

    Best,
    john
  • Skiffin16
    Skiffin16 Member Posts: 8,305 Member
    #10
    PattyNC said:

    Joel4 your dog is a real looker
    Hope you are able to keep your beautiful dog. Love is the best possible medicine & is very healing ... so let's keep our fingers crossed that it turns out to be something other than allergy to the pet, and that it is something easily treated. Pets are fountains of flowing love (& sometimes other liquids as we all know).

    Dogs
    My girls (Jasmine & Kali) ~ Chocolate Lab Sisters, were the best during treatment and especially the nine months I worked from home every day.

    They were care givers in themselves. They watched over me, gave me soooo much loving. They truly made a lot of days tolerable.

    John
  • Landranger25
    Landranger25 Member Posts: 210 Member
    #11
    Skiffin16 said:

    LOL, I Have to Resist
    OK, you that know me and my sense of humor (I'm my own biggest fan, LOL). I have to resist the urge to make comments about the size of your ENT's hands and not having any other male type exams....

    You gave me way too much informtation to not start thinking of the humor in those statements.

    Best,
    john

    Already been there with him!!
    Back at the end of my treatment I was feeling pretty low. Throat all swelled up from radiation, not able to open my mouth very far and somewhat painful to do so. Doc sneaks up behind me and says open up. Reaches into my mouth and says something like "is that the best you can do?". I turned around and looked at him and said something about his pudgy stubby fat little hands and he fires right back and says "just be glad I'm not checking your prostate" and reaches back in. He's told me a couple of times that most people don't think he can reach down into the throat like he does but he always proves them wrong. I'm glad for his diligence in always checking me thoroughly and the Oncologist once told me he had never met anyone who hated cancer as much as he did. (the ENT) Glad he's on my team.

    Mike
  • Skiffin16
    Skiffin16 Member Posts: 8,305 Member
    #12
    Landranger25 said:

    Already been there with him!!
    Back at the end of my treatment I was feeling pretty low. Throat all swelled up from radiation, not able to open my mouth very far and somewhat painful to do so. Doc sneaks up behind me and says open up. Reaches into my mouth and says something like "is that the best you can do?". I turned around and looked at him and said something about his pudgy stubby fat little hands and he fires right back and says "just be glad I'm not checking your prostate" and reaches back in. He's told me a couple of times that most people don't think he can reach down into the throat like he does but he always proves them wrong. I'm glad for his diligence in always checking me thoroughly and the Oncologist once told me he had never met anyone who hated cancer as much as he did. (the ENT) Glad he's on my team.

    Mike

    Plan
    LOL, love it when a plan comes together....

    Dang, I better be good on here with my wife's photo posted, she'll really smack me one.

    JG
  • staceya
    staceya Member Posts: 720
    #13
    Skiffin16 said:

    Dogs
    My girls (Jasmine & Kali) ~ Chocolate Lab Sisters, were the best during treatment and especially the nine months I worked from home every day.

    They were care givers in themselves. They watched over me, gave me soooo much loving. They truly made a lot of days tolerable.

    John

    Wimpy about Scopes
    I did OK with the mask.
    I did OK with the Amifostine.

    I HATE HATE HATE the scope!
    I am WAY behind, when I see the Doctor at work he reminds me. (Then I hide..)
    Someone needs to come out and slap me..

    How often do you need to be scoped. I finished rads in March and was last scoped in May, will it be better next time...maybe meds? I usually go before work so meds have not been an option this far..
    What makes scoping more tolerable for you?

    Yikes
    Stacey
  • lady4darknight
    lady4darknight Member Posts: 90 Member
    #14
    staceya said:

    Wimpy about Scopes
    I did OK with the mask.
    I did OK with the Amifostine.

    I HATE HATE HATE the scope!
    I am WAY behind, when I see the Doctor at work he reminds me. (Then I hide..)
    Someone needs to come out and slap me..

    How often do you need to be scoped. I finished rads in March and was last scoped in May, will it be better next time...maybe meds? I usually go before work so meds have not been an option this far..
    What makes scoping more tolerable for you?

    Yikes
    Stacey

    Scopes
    Stacey, I get scoped every time I see ENT. Since I have a trache, spraying anything inside or up the nose is useless. The doc is just amazed that I just say let's go for it but for me it is more uncomfortable than painful. They can only go up the right side since I broke my nose and the deviated septum prevents them from using the left. What cause me the discomfort is the doc reaching in mouth and touching my tonsils and the back of tongue. My ENT has large hands so naturally I start to gag immediately. I just usually think to myself that I can do this if I could lay there with the mask (I didnt do well with it). The spray the doc can use should not affect your work as it is usually just a lidocaine spray. I don't like being scoped either, but it is a necessary step that we have to go through like everything else. Best of luck.

    Debbie
  • Glenna M
    Glenna M Member Posts: 1,576
    #15
    staceya said:

    Wimpy about Scopes
    I did OK with the mask.
    I did OK with the Amifostine.

    I HATE HATE HATE the scope!
    I am WAY behind, when I see the Doctor at work he reminds me. (Then I hide..)
    Someone needs to come out and slap me..

    How often do you need to be scoped. I finished rads in March and was last scoped in May, will it be better next time...maybe meds? I usually go before work so meds have not been an option this far..
    What makes scoping more tolerable for you?

    Yikes
    Stacey

    Scope
    I am surprised you haven't had more scopes...I have been scoped every month since my treatment finished in Aug.'09. From the beginning my ENT told me I would need a monthly scope for the first year and then every 2 months for the next year. Naturally, I do not enjoy these scopes but they have been painless and I feel better knowing instantly what he sees and whether he thinks things are going good or if he sees something suspicious. He even did another biopsy a few months post treatment because he wasn't sure whether he was seeing the results of the radiation or whether the cancer had invaded the tissue of my larynx. I just love that he is that cautious with what's going on in there.

    Does your doctor spray your nose first to numb it?? Mine does prior to each scope and some of this drips down into my throat which helps numb that also. It has never hurt, it's just a strange sensation of feeling the scope going down into my throat. I thought I would gag but never have.

    I wish I could tell you how to tolerate this but I can't. All I can say is that it is definitely a necessity. Maybe you should try repeating over and over to yourself...If I can handle the mask I can certainly handle this.

    Hope you find what works for you soon and you get the scope done.

    Take care,
    Glenna
  • staceya
    staceya Member Posts: 720
    #16
    Glenna M said:

    Scope
    I am surprised you haven't had more scopes...I have been scoped every month since my treatment finished in Aug.'09. From the beginning my ENT told me I would need a monthly scope for the first year and then every 2 months for the next year. Naturally, I do not enjoy these scopes but they have been painless and I feel better knowing instantly what he sees and whether he thinks things are going good or if he sees something suspicious. He even did another biopsy a few months post treatment because he wasn't sure whether he was seeing the results of the radiation or whether the cancer had invaded the tissue of my larynx. I just love that he is that cautious with what's going on in there.

    Does your doctor spray your nose first to numb it?? Mine does prior to each scope and some of this drips down into my throat which helps numb that also. It has never hurt, it's just a strange sensation of feeling the scope going down into my throat. I thought I would gag but never have.

    I wish I could tell you how to tolerate this but I can't. All I can say is that it is definitely a necessity. Maybe you should try repeating over and over to yourself...If I can handle the mask I can certainly handle this.

    Hope you find what works for you soon and you get the scope done.

    Take care,
    Glenna

    Thanks for the support!
    ..I
    Thanks for the support!
    ..I am supposed to have them every 6 weeks. We have a new ENT who is closer, maybe I will try them..I am trying to remember if my other ENT ever did a manual exam..funny that I can't remember this.. Maybe if I take scope day off work it will be an incentive.

    grrr
    stacey
  • Skiffin16
    Skiffin16 Member Posts: 8,305 Member
    #17
    staceya said:

    Thanks for the support!
    ..I
    Thanks for the support!
    ..I am supposed to have them every 6 weeks. We have a new ENT who is closer, maybe I will try them..I am trying to remember if my other ENT ever did a manual exam..funny that I can't remember this.. Maybe if I take scope day off work it will be an incentive.

    grrr
    stacey

    Scopes
    My ENT scopes me every 6-8 weeks and has for the last 14+ months. He also feels my neck and throat glands, tongue, etc. He's a big believer in both manual exams, scopes and technology.

    Best,
    John

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