On 7/9/2008
geek0911 wrote:
My husband was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma of the throat after going to his ENT complaining of a sore throat and and ear ache. He has started radiation and is half way through but he still has the ear pain. His doctor tells him that she wishes the pain would stop but does not elaborate as to why. Of course our thoughts lean towards the idea that if the pain is still there then so is the cancer and the radiation is not doing anything. Is there anyone out there who had an ear ache as one of the syptoms and can you tell me what happened during your course of treatment?
This post is now 2 months old and may not be read but I'll put my 2 cents worth in anyway.
Since I've had 10 years worth of ear pain someone may find something in it. It has been my experience that such pain is ignored by doctors. They may often be unable to speak in terms that you and I understand but they are all still quite capable of saying I don't know. For me ear pain with a sore throat started about 6 months after cancer of the larnyx was treated with radiation. I was told that some ear pain with a sore throat would now be normal. Still sore throat with ear pain prompted me to visit My ENT about once a year because it would last for several weeks. My last ear pain started in august. My regular ENT was not available. It took a month to get an appointment elsewhere. All they said was I don't know but theres a lump that your regular ENT may want to biopsy. I had to wait another month to see him. Then 3 weeks for an MRI and next appointment. ENT treated me like I had plague. Could not seem to get rid of me soon enough. Would not answer any questions. Referred me to head and neck surgeon. Inbetween ENT and Surgeon I saw another doctor who said ear pain with a sore throat was normal. Surgeon said tumor at base of tongue but ignored ear pain and sore throat. I was getting rather irritated. I tried telling him I was not that concerned with the tumor. My interest was the sore throat and ear pain. Again all I could get was "I don't know" but suspect it is from cancer. Surgeon said neck dissection, remove voice box and tumor. After surgery I was in tears. I let them take my voice box and turn my neck into a piece of swiss cheese. The ear pain and sore throat was still there absolutely no change. I continued to complain about sore throat and ear pain. Three months after surgery a CT scan shows a tumor where the sore throat is. Half way through radiation all pain stopped and has not returned. At least not in the past 4 months.
My chemo doctor says scans will not in many cases detect very small tumors.
Sore throat with ear pain still a mystery that is largely ignored even though sore throat with ear pain is a major cancer symptom.
??????????????????????????????????????????????????
Is So much education and training necessary to say "I DON'T KNOW"