Dvd, I have had radiation on a lymph node that is at the Y in my trachea that impacted the trachea and the esophagus. I realize that this is not the same area you will have radiation but in my case the irritation to the esophagus was not too bad. What I did learn is that it depends on how accurate that they can aim the radiation. If they manage to miss your throat then irritation should be minimal; however, if they have to hit part of the throat then yes there may be some irritation. In any case I don’t think the irritation will be anything like the burns you have experienced. The irritation I did feel was like a sore throat and affected me most when swallowing. The Miracle Mouth Wash the prescribed for me seemed to take care of the irritation and others here have had similar experiences with it. Please make sure that you have some of it available as it may help.
As for a biopsy, I have never been put under for a biopsy as they have always had to go through either the lung wall of the diaphragm and the needed me to hold still during the process. Based on this I think that you should ask if it can be done without putting you under since I suspect it can.
I also think that you are absolutely correct that your team needs to be the people you go to for the final answers to questions about your conditions. This web site and others like it is a good place to go to get ideas about what kind of questions you should be asking, but most of the people here as patients and caregivers not medical professionals. I always tell people that they have to have good, honest and open communication with their team about their treatment. The more complicated your case is the more you need this communication. It would appear that both of us have very complicated cases so we both need to have good communication.
Good luck with your first radiation treatment tomorrow and let us know how it goes.
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October 2012