ok say you have had 6 and a half weeks of radiation therapy on the head and neck and the place they are putting the radiation has caused the place where they sewed up his neck to bust and there is a green pus like substance running out of this now.can this be from radiation or could this be a sign the cancer is back he has a radical neck dissection in august of 06 in vanderbilt in nashville tn. they took everything out of his mouth and rebuilt it and now this any one know what i should do take him back to his surgens or the dr that did radiation?
2007-02-03 12:27:40 · 8 answers · asked by mountainchowpurple 4 in Health ➔ Diseases & Conditions ➔ Cancer
his regular dr.is only a nurse practioner that is all we have here .they wont touch him and it was a dr.sinard in nashville do i need to take him back there it happened after the radiatio stopped the next day.
2007-02-03 12:42:38 · update #1
Small world,I work in the ER at Vanderbilt. You should have his MD check this,having a "drainage" as you describe is not normal,probably needs to have that cultured to fid out what's going on. Take care. SW RNP
2007-02-03 12:34:57 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
It sounds like he has an infection, and that the radiation was either done too close together for treatments or too high of a direct dosage to that specific area.
You need to call the radiologist and let them know he has drainage and possible infection, and stop treatment with the radiation until you know for sure what is going on, go to the surgeon. The head and neck are not places to fool around with concerning any infection as it can very easily go into a cellulitis type situation and spread quickly even to the brain. Get him to the doctor asap.
2007-02-03 16:45:03 · answer #2 · answered by Tina of Lymphland.com 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If he just had 6 weeks of rtx he should have a planned follow up with his Radiation Oncologist scheduled very soon anyway. If there's green pus like stuff coming out of his, he needs to be seen ASAP as it could very easily be an infection, particularly since the surgury and the rtx can compromise the immune system. If the site is not overly painful he could potentially wait until Monday, but personally I'd take him into the ER to have it checked out. Typically, green pus is not a sign of reccurance, but I can certainly understand why you'd be fearful of it. MY suggestion, be on the safe side, run him into the ER.
2007-02-03 12:37:58 · answer #3 · answered by Erica B 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Y-90 emits beta radiation, which has a fairly short range inside the body. Ideally it aims to deposit most of its radiation dose in the immediate vicinity of the emitter, without doing too much damage elsewhere. When I was working on it, it was generally considered to be a "palliative" treatment rather than a curative one, so usually it would slow the cancer and alleviate the symptoms, but in general it wouldn't cure it. Then again I was working on the physics aspects of the treatment, not the clinical side of things, and things may have changed since I worked on it. Stage 4 is very advanced cancer, so it's often not possible to cure. However, to get a better idea of what her prognosis is, she'd need to ask her doctor.
2016-05-24 01:00:56 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
You need to take him back to the surgeon who did his surgery because he has an infection in the surgical wound and it needs immediate attention. Sounds like the radiation has caused the wound to dehiss and now it has come open and is infected.
He needs some antibiotics and a skin and wound consult so he can heal up. Now that the wound has come open, it will be more difficult to close. If you are not able to see his surgeon, he can be seen by his Oncologist who will refer him to the surgical resident then go from there.
Prayers are with you as it sounds like you have been thru a lot.
RN in Oncology for 12 yrs.
2007-02-03 14:31:59 · answer #5 · answered by happydawg 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Take him back to the DR in nahville tn That is not good will the nearest Hospital ER see him or bigger city near by He needs medical treatment Right away
2007-02-03 14:17:16 · answer #6 · answered by phil a 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
This is one of the complications of over dosage of radiation. Better contact a dr of radiation/nuclear physician, sorry for the chap.
2007-02-03 12:56:09 · answer #7 · answered by Dr.Qutub 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Definetely have it checked out but I am not aware that radiation itself is the cause of green puss from points of surgery that have been performed. For more info check out http://www.emfscience.net for info on radiation and treatments of cancer.
2007-02-03 17:58:27 · answer #8 · answered by emfscience 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋