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Head and Neck Cancer

Archives for January 2012

Finished treatment Dec12/11, how I'm doing now...
I was never given a stage but I think it would be T1N2M0. Primary in L tonsil, L lymph node involvement, HPV+. L tonsillectomy Sept21/11. IMRT 35 and Cisplatin week 1,4,7 mid Oct through to Dec12/11. Looking back, treatment was a blur. I had a followup appt with my RO Jan13/12. My stomach tube was removed, hadn't used it…
enlarged right tonsil & swollen lymph node that's been there for months, maybe years...neck & throat
hi, my name is stephanie. i'm 31 years old. my doc noticed a swollen lymph node on the right side of my neck. didn't worry about it and says it's normal and to just watch it if it grows. i went back a few months later for other reasons...i'm always tired and wanted to see if maybe i was low on iron or something else. well…
Appetite enhancers
Popping in from the CRC board, figuring there is more focus on just plain eating over here. I have been in the hospital for almost a month, unable to sit up, let alone walk. During this time my appetite has been ****, so I have been getting by on protein shakes. We tried marinol, which got me high but not hungry, and there…
Carboplatin + Erbitux Side Effects -Round 1, Weeks 1 to 3
Thought I'd post quick update on how my treatment has gone since I was PET diagnosed with my SCC having matriculated to both my left lung and liver. Two years ago I was treated with radiation and erbitux for Stage IV SCC to the valecular region of my throat. My current treatment protocol is for 18 weeks of carboplatin with…
Has anyone been referred to a neurologist post treatment due to memory loss and stumbling issues
They have (his GP) referred my husband to a neurologist because he has short term memory loss 9 months out, but mostly becuase of his balance issues. They had him stand with his feet together and close his eyes. he was swaying all over the place. I am getting a second tomorrow with his oncologist. When I called her voicing…
very close friend has tongue cancer
Hello to all of you wonderful people taking the time to post your stories on this site. Thankfully we have the internet which enables us to form global communities that help and support us all through life's journeys! A very close friend of mine - who is more like a sister - is about to have at least 3/4 of her tongue and…
Enlarged Lymphnodes
Hey Everyone, I have been feeling like i have a minor cold lately. Tonight I just got this piercing pain under my left ear so i started to investigate. I found 2 lumps on each side of my adams aplle.they seem so sudden and i got the whole turkey neck thing too. Of course I am worried now. I hoped you guys could give me…
How do you tell the people around you?
I find myself a little lost at how to tell folks what I am going through? I don't want to shock them, but it is always a terrible shock to tell them I have cancer. Tomorrow I am attending a conference with my boss and she said that many folks have been asking about me (word is getting around that something is up). I'm just…
PET Scan on 2/1/12
This is my first post. I wish I would have found CSN a long time ago. I am 8 months post radiation and chemotherapy. Was diagnosed on 3/23/11 with SCC base of tongue - stage 2 with no apparent spread. Surgery the next day then seven weeks of radiation with three chemos. during. I experienced the usual hell - had wisdom…
Swollen epiglottis
Hello to all, My dad is 14 weeks since his last chemo and radiation treatment. We have had 8 weeks of speech therapy (a swallow study showed us a swollen epiglottis which was not flipping well making swallowing foods difficult) we had a ct scan which showed Ned and a scope as well so the big picture is a blessing. However…
15 MONTH NED
Just saw my ENT Wednesday, and received a NED 15 Mos. post treatment. So far so good. Shooting for the two year mark now. In short, pay NO ATTENTION to survivor rates and %'s. BEST!! Mike
Prayer for Eddie
Hi all: A couple of weeks ago I posted about Eddie who is the husband of the caregiver Gladys that took care of my brother. Well, they finally got all the news yesterday and it's not good. He has pancreatic cancer that has spread to his liver. It is Stage 3 so they cannot do any surgery. He will being doing 4 weeks of…
Jaw pain
Andy has had jaw/gum pain for a month and all the docs say everything looks fine. They are thinking it is scar tissue and tightening his movement so that it hurts to open his mouth very wide at all. Recommended stretching. Anybody have some experience with this and some stretch exercises?
Octreotide and Esthesioneurblastoma
It's been a whirlwind week since my biopsy came back with esthesioneuroblastoma, low grade 2. Prayerfully, the tumor appears to be contained in the sinus. CT w/contrast of the neck does not show any lymph node involvment. MRI appears to show good margins at the dura, so hopeful no invasion into the dura. Although the…
Does prognosis change??
Hello all, my girlfriend, Natalie was diagnosed with stage 4b NPC last July. Docs told us her 5 year survival is around 35%. She done with her treatment last November and was declared NED on her first post treatment PET scan. Based on her NED result, does that change her prognosis? She has always been healthy and I was…
What have you heard from your docs???
My husband was treated at MD Anderson for Nasopharyngeal Cancer. Stage IVC mets to lymph nodes and liver at diagnosis. He has been NED since finishing treatment Feb 2011. He just had Pet and MRI. Per our Dr, from studies done there, with patients at my husbands stage, 5 year survival is 10%., anyone at this stage have…
The Work Dilemma
I had one of those revelatory moments at work. I was completing my self-assessment for the past year and came face-to-face with the fact that my cancer really has had an impact at work. But how do you acknowledge that in a self-evaluation? Because I am very familiar with employment law and HR, I tried desperately to find…
Vocal Cord Cancer T3M0N0 newly diagnosed
Hi Everyone, I am 48 years old and suffered a hoarse voice for about 3 weeks so I quit smoking on Jan 1 2012 then want to general doctor on Jan 3 who sent to me to ENT who said looks like i had early stage cancer, next a biopsy confirmed cancer stage T2 refered me to Radiologist.who said could be treated with Radiation…
Seond neck dissection
Good news today. The biopsies were negative and the drain tubes are out. My doc did not close it up though, I have to keep it packed with gauze and replace it daily....I can definitely tell you guys where the nerves in my neck are as I seem to hit them everyday in my attempt to keep the packing in. My wife and I simply…
New HPV Info
http://vitals.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/26/10243115-more-men-than-women-have-oral-cancer-virus You will probably need to copy and past to your browser to get to the article or I guess you could type in the entire line. John
Fibrosis on togue
Hello, I´m 51 days past my partial glossectomy surgery. Still feeling fibrosis and hard areas in the tongue. I was T1N0M0. Has anyone on something like that? Can u share experiences? thanks
Chemo brain
Do you know that appliances work a lot better whenever they are plugged in? Glad I was home alone. Denny
Sleep
I have read over the past couple of years on this board and others the problem a lot of people have with sleeping. At my last check up with the team we talked about about sleep and a successful recovery and a healthy life after treatment, the chemo doc and the rad onc told me that, second only to lifestyle, sleep was…
Good and Bad News today
Hubby received the results from his 2nd post treatment PET scan today. His initial scan was in June before treatment, he had one 2 months out and now 5 months out. Due to kidney issues he cannot have the contrast anymore. Anyway.. the good news is that the tumor area is totally clear but they want him to go in for a…
SWEET
Just a general question regarding taste....... I have no sense of sweet three weeks after radiation and a month since last chemo. Did anyone else share this same experience? And when did sweet return, if at all, following treatment. I bought a dozen donuts today just because......but cant eat them because I am sure they…
The Epidemiology of the HPV/Head and Neck Cancer connection
Some new data on the rise in HPV positive head and neck cancers and one of the best discussions I've seen about the "why" HPV-linked cancer is increasing. Is it really a traditional STD? If it was, why aren't rates higher for women and gay men? So if it isn't STD related and sexually-transmitted (as other HPV-related…
NED but.....
Hi everyone. So I just hand my first PET and MRI since completing treatment in early november for NPC and it came back NED but the scans showed calcification on the left side of my thyroid. Now we are going to do an ultrasound and biopsy to determine if I need to worry about my thyroid having cancer. Has any one gone…
Second neck dissection, of sorts.....
I am a week post surgery now to remedy the post treatment infection that I developed in my neck. After three weeks on antibiotics, my Dr had a CT done and saw that there was a rather large "sterile abcess" in my neck. He performed pre-surgical biopsies of the area and they came back NED, thank God. I am now recovering from…
Medical insurance for dental care?
Someone here, some time ago, posted or responded to a post that they managed to get dental care covered by their medical insurer. I visited ENT Man (ToothDude was concerned about ulceration in the oral cave but ENT Man proclaimed it non-cancerous and probably long-term radiation effect) and he said that if I could get more…
Help me with my father's terminal Head and Neck cancer please
It's a very long story, but I am now taking care of my father who is in the terminal stage of Head and Neck cancer. He's about to be released from oncology and we had our first appointment with the palliative doctor last Thursday and he was no help. My dad hasn't been eating for some time, he gets his nutrition though a…

Head and Neck Cancer

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