What To Expect After Radiation Treatments

My father is 60 and was diagnosed with Stage 4 sqaumous cell carcenoma in his base of tongue, tonsil area and lymph nodes. He was getting radiation and chemo treatments at Iowa City and just finished. He actually went through double radiation treatments during the last several weeks of his treatments. He felt ok during the treatments but has felt worse since they ended a few weeks ago. He has vertigo and his balance is off. Has anyone experience that or know what might be causing it? Doctors do not know. Also, how soon do you think he'll start to feel better post treatments? Does anyone know what to expect. Please help if you can, i'd love to be able to give my mom a better timeline of what to expect.
Julie

Hello,
I had the same type of cancer only stage three. I di not have the same trouble as your Dad is having.Some of the medications maybe causeing this. Write down what he is taking, how many MG's of each and how oftern he is taking it.He will feel better after he is done with the treatments, but since we are all differant, a time line is very hard to guess at. If that continues. take him to an Ear, nose and th Dr. ENT. May be coming from his ears. I went deaf in one ear, and the ENT Dr. found a lot of dry skin from the radiation and wax had hardening in that ear. She removed it and I was fine.
Hope this helps.
Mildred

I experienced minimal side effects WITH radiation or Temador.
However as time passed fatigue and balance issues arose.
Ive learned to compensate for both.

BE CAREFUL with fatigue and not become too inactive (I ended up
wth DVT (blood clot groin to L knee.

Thank you so much for the feedback, it really helps a lot since I live several hours away from my parents and are not able to go to the doctor appointments and ask questions, etc. They did remove some wax build up and did a hearing test, he is 20% deaf in one ear and still having balance issues. I have a few other questions if anyone might be able to help... During the 3 month wait until the PET scan, can I expect him to feel gradually better? How long does it take to get the results of the PET scan? Are they primarily looking to see if the treatments were successful to get rid of the cancer he had before, or is there a chance of new cancer developing while on the treatments? Any info anyone has will be very helpful. Thank you so much! Julie

He is actually not taking any medications. He has pain pills but often refuses to take them - he is very stubborn!

They may be looking to see if they got all the cancer. The techs that do the Pet scans know the results that day. Unfortunately they won't discuss them with you. I had them done. I was there for three hours. They look for what they call "hot spots". I had a hot spot on the bottom of my esophagus that ended up being acid reflux. So, don't be alarmed if the Dr saws there is a "hot spot". They may go down with a scope and take pictures to see. I hope your dad is well. I just finished radiation myself. Mine was in my tongue. I'm going for implant radiation next month.

They may be looking to see if they got all the cancer. The techs that do the Pet scans know the results that day. Unfortunately they won't discuss them with you. I had them done. I was there for three hours. They look for what they call "hot spots". I had a hot spot on the bottom of my esophagus that ended up being acid reflux. So, don't be alarmed if the Dr saws there is a "hot spot". They may go down with a scope and take pictures to see. I hope your dad is well. I just finished radiation myself. Mine was in my tongue. I'm going for implant radiation next month.

I completed radiation treatments the last week of Feb. after having a total glossectomy, or almost...3/4 of my tongue was removed and a flap was constructed from a section from my thigh. I have Diabetes, and was told that my side effects from radiation could come on sooner and could be worse. My blistered skin did get worse after treatments were over, but is getting better now. I now have fluid in both ears...can't hear anything. So I'll be having tubes put in both ears tomorrow.
I highly recommend an ENT specialist for your dad. Changes can occur two years or more from radiation!
Did he get a sheet of "EARLY" Side Effects and "LATE" side effects of radiation? I did, but it was not explained to me when the "LATE side effects would occur. I thought it meant "later in the treatments". In fact, the Late side effects occur after Radiation is completed. They can take months to years to develop and are often permanent. I will put your dad and fanily on my prayer list. Hope you will let me know how things are progressing! Many Blessings.

It was October when I signed up to this site...
I think my screen name was "Gardening Angel"...will sign off as Anita!

Anita, thank you for your message. OFten times I feel out of the loop, and these message boards help me to get a better understanding of what my dad is going through so i can support him. You will also be in my thoughts and prayers. thank you -
Julie

 

On 4/10/2006 Gardening Anita wrote:

I completed radiation treatments the last week of Feb. after having a total glossectomy, or almost...3/4 of my tongue was removed and a flap was constructed from a section from my thigh. I have Diabetes, and was told that my side effects from radiation could come on sooner and could be worse. My blistered skin did get worse after treatments were over, but is getting better now. I now have fluid in both ears...can't hear anything. So I'll be having tubes put in both ears tomorrow. I highly recommend an ENT specialist for your dad. Changes can occur two years or more from radiation! Did he get a sheet of "EARLY" Side Effects and "LATE" side effects of radiation? I did, but it was not explained to me when the "LATE side effects would occur. I thought it meant "later in the treatments". In fact, the Late side effects occur after Radiation is completed. They can take months to years to develop and are often permanent. I will put your dad and fanily on my prayer list. Hope you will let me know how things are progressing! Many Blessings. It was October when I signed up to this site... I think my screen name was "Gardening Angel"...will sign off as Anita!

my husband completed radiation treatments 7 weeks ago. he is in horrible shape. Lots of pain in his mouth. he felt pretty could until the radiaiton was over. could you tell me the "late" side effects?  He still can't eat, just drinks boast, and has lost about 60 pounds during all this. he is depressed, down on himself, and just plain miserable. we are going to our family doctor to see about antidepressants. how long will this last? any advice you can offer will be a great help.

monica