Got To See My Throat

tommyodavey
tommyodavey Member Posts: 726 Member
in Head and Neck Cancer #1
I saw my surgeon last Tuesday and this time he had a monitor up on the wall so I could see my throat while he scoped me. Now I know how much of the base of my tongue he took out. My vocal cords looked okay but I've been hoarse since the second week out of radiation.

My symptoms and what we saw didn't match up. My throat still hurts when I eat certain foods but it looked just fine on the monitor. Same with my voice, no sign of anything wrong.

He said everything looks good and I'm progressing just fine. Now the little pains don't bother me as much knowing all is well.

But this morning I woke up with five small sores on the inside of my bottom lip. I am 3 months out of RT so that surprised me. All I can assume is that it is from the radiation. Never had anything like that before.

Awhile back someone asked me if I was checked for HPV. I asked and he said no. With my type of cancer (MEC)HPV has never been related to it. But he did say it was a good question.

Not much of a news report but I loved being able to see my throat. Next up is a PET scan in Oct. I'll know more then.

Stay Well My CSN Friends,

Tom

Comments

  • CivilMatt
    CivilMatt Member Posts: 4,722 Member
    #2
    I should have looked
    Tom,

    My ENT offered but I did not look. Next time I will. I would like to see where they took the chunk out of my tongue. Glad you are doing fine.

    Best,

    Matt
  • phrannie51
    phrannie51 Member Posts: 4,716
    #3
    My ENT offered my husband and sister a peak..
    but doesn't have a monitor, so I couldn't look....I wanted to SO BAD.

    p
  • Skiffin16
    Skiffin16 Member Posts: 8,305 Member
    #4
    HPV
    Although it might have been good to know up front, in reality it probably wouldn't have mattered much as for treatment.

    JG
  • Paintslinger
    Paintslinger Member Posts: 70
    #5
    Surgery as an option
    Hey Guys,
    When I was diagnosed with my HPV+SCC, the radiologist told me surgery wasn't really an option that they were considering because of the location of the tumor. He told me that in order to remove it, they would have had to remove my entire tongue. I told him, of course, that there PLENTY of people that would have paid him a King's ransom to do just that!
    Glad you guys are doing well,
    Paul
  • katenorwood
    katenorwood Member Posts: 1,912
    #6
    Scope
    Hey Tom,
    I had a scope thru the nose...and was able to see some of the damage to my vocal cords and voice box. It helped I was in hospital and on some darn good meds for pain. It wasn't awful...kinda cool to see what was going on inside of me. The worst part was it felt when first inserted like my eye was bulging. (pressure) So glad things are doing well, hope the pet in Oct., brings more good news ! Katie
  • Tim6003
    Tim6003 Member Posts: 1,514 Member
    #7
    katenorwood said:

    Scope
    Hey Tom,
    I had a scope thru the nose...and was able to see some of the damage to my vocal cords and voice box. It helped I was in hospital and on some darn good meds for pain. It wasn't awful...kinda cool to see what was going on inside of me. The worst part was it felt when first inserted like my eye was bulging. (pressure) So glad things are doing well, hope the pet in Oct., brings more good news ! Katie

    Cool news ... :)
    Glad for the good report Tom.

    I had some lip ulcers on the outside and in the corner of my mouth shorlty after tx / radiation ....and on the inside of my cheek...then all got better within a week. No doctor here, but sounds like post treatment stuff to me.

    Jealous on the scope view ...never got offered one ....I did not have surgery (base of tongue) so I wonder if there would be anything to see anyway ...lol

    Best,

    Tim
  • Tonsil Dad
    Tonsil Dad Member Posts: 488
    #8
    Tim6003 said:

    Cool news ... :)
    Glad for the good report Tom.

    I had some lip ulcers on the outside and in the corner of my mouth shorlty after tx / radiation ....and on the inside of my cheek...then all got better within a week. No doctor here, but sounds like post treatment stuff to me.

    Jealous on the scope view ...never got offered one ....I did not have surgery (base of tongue) so I wonder if there would be anything to see anyway ...lol

    Best,

    Tim

    Scope.
    I had a scope a few weeks back and I also watched the procedure on the screen
    while he prodded and poked. He said I had a deviated septum on one side of
    the nose and then he continued to show me the Nasopharyngeal stenosis and
    the reason why I cannot breathe through the nose. The area radiated looked ok
    but we will see on the 19th of this month when I have my first post rad PET.
    Congrats on the good report Tommy, Keep it up.

    God bless
    Tonsil dad,

    Dan.
  • Paintslinger
    Paintslinger Member Posts: 70
    #9
    Tim6003 said:

    Cool news ... :)
    Glad for the good report Tom.

    I had some lip ulcers on the outside and in the corner of my mouth shorlty after tx / radiation ....and on the inside of my cheek...then all got better within a week. No doctor here, but sounds like post treatment stuff to me.

    Jealous on the scope view ...never got offered one ....I did not have surgery (base of tongue) so I wonder if there would be anything to see anyway ...lol

    Best,

    Tim

    Mouth with a view
    Tim,
    Mine was at the base of my tongue as well. The docs told me that there was really nothing TO see. It would just look like a raised area or slight swelling at the base of my tongue.So apparently we didn't miss much.If that lump (actually a greatly enlarged lymph node)didn't show up on my neck, I would have never even known it (the cancer) was there. I don't even want to think about what would have happened if that lump had not appeared and the tumor had metasisized all over the place. Prognosis would probably have been a lot worse. Guess I got lucky.
    Take care,
    Paul
  • Skiffin16
    Skiffin16 Member Posts: 8,305 Member
    #10
    Tonsil Dad said:

    Scope.
    I had a scope a few weeks back and I also watched the procedure on the screen
    while he prodded and poked. He said I had a deviated septum on one side of
    the nose and then he continued to show me the Nasopharyngeal stenosis and
    the reason why I cannot breathe through the nose. The area radiated looked ok
    but we will see on the 19th of this month when I have my first post rad PET.
    Congrats on the good report Tommy, Keep it up.

    God bless
    Tonsil dad,

    Dan.

    Deviated Septum ~ Rhinoplasty
    I had a deviated septum for years....since high school football in 1970 actually....

    Since treatement, every time my ENT would scope me it was always an adventure.

    Which side he could go in between the S shape of my nasal passage and how bad my sinus were from pollen etc..., LOL.

    Each time he would say, "You know I can fix that for you..."

    So last year toward the end of the year, I had met all deductibles an max out of pocket, so I told him to go for it...

    Scheduled and performed a Rhinoplasty......

    WOW, best thing ever...now even on the worst of days I can breathe out of either side of my nose.

    Before, on the best of days, I could barely breathe out of either side, and never both... Defintely not enough to survive if that's the only way I could breathe....

    John
  • tommyodavey
    tommyodavey Member Posts: 726 Member
    #11
    Paintslinger said:

    Mouth with a view
    Tim,
    Mine was at the base of my tongue as well. The docs told me that there was really nothing TO see. It would just look like a raised area or slight swelling at the base of my tongue.So apparently we didn't miss much.If that lump (actually a greatly enlarged lymph node)didn't show up on my neck, I would have never even known it (the cancer) was there. I don't even want to think about what would have happened if that lump had not appeared and the tumor had metasisized all over the place. Prognosis would probably have been a lot worse. Guess I got lucky.
    Take care,
    Paul

    Talking
    Hey Paul, I resemble that remark! My family joked too about not being able to talk for awhile after my surgery. I do tend to be a bit overzealous at times and like to share my thoughts. Lucky for them (ha ha)I still have a voice, albeit a hoarse one.

    The only problem with the monitor is you're not able to talk and ask questions about what you are seeing. Next time I'll ask before he scopes me.

    Now, can we all say EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

    T
  • Paintslinger
    Paintslinger Member Posts: 70
    #12
    tommyodavey said:

    Talking
    Hey Paul, I resemble that remark! My family joked too about not being able to talk for awhile after my surgery. I do tend to be a bit overzealous at times and like to share my thoughts. Lucky for them (ha ha)I still have a voice, albeit a hoarse one.

    The only problem with the monitor is you're not able to talk and ask questions about what you are seeing. Next time I'll ask before he scopes me.

    Now, can we all say EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

    T

    EEEEEEEEEEEEEE
    T,
    I hope that you're well. Man, doesn't THAT bring back memories! Every time I go to either my ENT or radiologist, they whip out that tongue depresser and down it goes. Apparently I have a pretty strong gag reflex. Just about makes me vomit every time.

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