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G-Tube and Port OUCH--lasted three days only i feel stupid now
Hi I was reading old posts. I saw yours Phrannie about the tube. Last night my stomach was just spasming intermittantly but today its better. Kills my abdominals though when I move. Dang, I had stopped taking narcotics on the 21st from my surgery. i started back!! WOW. But its so helpful to read the old posts Thank You.…
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Back for more than checking in and saying hello--UPDATED 10/28
I haven't posted in a while because life has been hectic and stressful. I've been checking in without posting though, and thinking of everyone here (especially Phrannie, who rode the bus alongside me). I've been dealing with pneumonia for a couple weeks... and a chest CT today showed it's not just pneumonia. There's a…
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Head and neck radiation side effects
Hi my name is Justin and I am 30 years old. I was diagnosed with stage 1 nasopharyngeal carcinoma in August 2015. I completed 35 treatments of radiation therapy and 3 cisplatum chemotherapy treatments. My last day of these treatments was October 22nd. I am looking for relief and information and I hope that somebody can…
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Tyranny of Positivity
So husband and I decided to take advantage of some counseling sessions to help with anxiety, negative loop thinking, etc. We are actually doing pretty well, but figured it couldn't hurt, and why not? So yesterday the psychologist said something I found pretty interesting...she said sometimes you have to deal with the…
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Jakesaround and Kenny- are you guys making it?
HI, just wondering about you guys (way) ahead of me. I am finishing week one tomorrow. I hope you both are doing ok. Karen
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Class of 2012 isn't doing too good....UPDATE!!!!!
ENT called tonight....the lymph node biopsy showed cancer. SH*T is all I can say! He says wherever it is, it is very small since the CT never picked it up in August....since the lymph has grown hardly at all since then, either. His office will be calling me tomorrow to set up a PET scan. Here we go again. I'm still in…
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bye, bye insurance....
Here we go again... My husband is self employed. My job (I have TWO) keeps us just under the hours eligible for benefits. We had NO insurance when I found out I had cancer. Now, two years later (lots of bills, assistance and blessings) we have a policy through the "Affordable" healthcare act. Affordable, not so much... It…
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Post Treatment Recovery
I finished my treatments one week ago. I'm feeling pretty awful. My lower throat just keeps getting more painful and it makes eating or drinking anything almost unbearable. I don't have a feeding tube, so I'm very afraid that I'm not gettting enough nutrition. Has anyone else had a problem with throat pain? I would like to…
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Radiate or not?
We just talked to my husband's doctor about his pathology report. The tumor in the tongue was 1.2 cm at its greatest size and was removed with clean margins. All of the lymph nodes removed from the right side of the neck were not cancerous, which the doc said was huge. The only negative was that the tumor showed some peri…
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I am Home!!
Got released this morning....the human body is amazing....like total turn around in the night. Nerves quit screaming, able to turn my head, and get my arm over and close to my head without feeling like "I wish the PT people could get a chance at this, they might not be so mean"....LOL. It's amazing to me how everything…
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Starting Week five. What about the feeding tube?
Hi everybody, I've been reading some of the recent posts and I'm getting very worried. I will be starting week five of six in a couple of days. My throat is getting very sore, but after a couple of pain pills, baking soda rinse and magic mouthwash, I can start swallowing after I get up in the morning. Even so, eating is a…
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Saw the Oncologist this morning....
damn....this is such a roller coaster ride....I thought I was pretty much done with the carnival ride, and moving into treatment mode. The Oncologist has not seen anything in research that would indicate to him a justification to poison me with chemo with this recurrence. He does want to get a second opinion....first over…
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Obamacare Who can afford it
Wow I can't believe it but my health care coverage will go from $400.00 a month to $1,200.00 a month with a $7,500 out of pocket deductible next year. I don’t get it but something is wrong with this picture. My Disability and SS with my Wife’s SS puts us over the limit to receive any discount in coverage so we have to pay…
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Not4me
i am a 44 years of age, 6' 2" tall, weigh 205 pounds and had a sore throat, once when I was a kid. I have NEVER been sick so you can only imagine how terrified I was when I heard CANCER. I had what I thought was an ear infection and after 10 days of antibiotic to treat it without any success my wife "made" me go to the…
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Newly unemployed
Now the insurance problem lands on my doorstep. COBRA, or continued under my current plan, I will learn about in the next few days, but I've heard that's very expensive. So, do I explore Obamacare plans? Isn't there enrollment dates that are only for once/year? Worked at the place for 21years, 10 months, and 9 days. There…
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phrannie update....
Let's see....the neck dissection is now just little line on my neck....plus a lot of wrinkles...When I knew I was going to have this surgery, I was nervous I'd look like I'd had half a neck lift....I don't know how they managed to pull it so tight and yet leave wrinkles?? I feel like a baby bulldog...like I have to clean…
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Things are getting harder
as we knew they would, but still it doesn't make it any easier. My husband is half way through his 6 chemo treatments (cisplatin) and almost half way through his 30 radiation treatments for his tongue cancer. Starting on Christmas Eve is when the eating became hard. Up until that point he was doing fine, and then poof,…
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End of life
When I was on here a few months ago looking for help with radiation and chemo, I remember a few of you were family members of those who have passed. While this is a scary topic for some, I need help. My mom is terminal. She was told she had a year to live just 3 weeks ago and now she is told she has less than 3 weeks (with…
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Another famous person
Uh, there's some famous people who have had H&N C. Just read about another. Uh. kcass
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complications need advise
My husband was diagnosed with base of tongue cancer. We live in NE Pennsylvania about 2 hours from Philly. The pathology report stated that it was "large cell undifferentiated carcinoma markers, with neurendocrine features. Positive for epithelial markers,MOC-31, chromogranin, synaptphysin". Our oncologist suspects that…
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Need Advice Please
Hello. I'm hoping someone out there has been in a similar situation as ours and can lend some advice: My husband, 48, was diagnosed with cancer in late November. On December 15, he underwent a 7 hour surgery to remove the tumor from his left tonsil/base of his tongue. The tumor was approximately 2cm in diameter. He also…
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Never a dull moment and a second NED!
It's 5 in the morning and my husband bolts upright in bed and starts writhing in pain! Welcome home from vacation! The mystery is solved when we go to the hospital and get an ultrasound that shows some "sludge" and small gallstones in the gallbladder and bile duct. Evidently his digestive system doesn't like the Boost and…
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Today he rang the bell
as he finished his radiation. 6 weeks of rads done. Chemo was finished last week. These past 6 weeks have been a beast, but my husband and our family have made it through. I never thought this day would get here but now the day has come. All of you here have been such an important part of our journey so far and I thank you…
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resources
I was just diagnosed with the 3rd squamous cell on my upper gum. 1st on was in 2004, 2nd 12/14, 3rd 12/15. The cause of these are from the Colbolt radiation that I had in 1975. I have had other surgeries for other side effects too. I am still paying for last year's surgery, now I need 3K before I have this surgery. I need…
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Newly diagnosed, surgery soon
Hello, I was diagnosed wish Squamous cell carcinoma two months ago. I am having surgery on February 8th, and i am terrified! We chose MD Anderson because that was the surgeon's recommendation, following my biopsy diagnosis. the surgeon at MDA said there is a possibility of losing some jaw bone, and teeth as well. I have…
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feeling stupid
Hello everyone! I have commented on a few posts here before and always find everyone's experiences enlightening and promising. I feel really stupid, sometimes, tho when I read about different types of head and neck cancers. I have finished 37 weeks of radiation and 6 chemo/cysplatin...AND I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT MY CANCER…
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Tingling in legs and feet when I tilt my head down
I am a head and neck cancer patient. Had cancer of the left tonsil that had spread to a lymph node. I completed treatments last August. In September I developed tingling in my toes and fingers. Was told this was periphial neuropathy due to my cisplatin chemo. My recent PET scan did not show anything abnormal. Recently I…
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'Nother NED
Today I got the news that my PET scan results were okay. What is really awesome is that I was able to share the news with a fellow CSNer, SonjaK, at lunch today.
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Went Back to Work
Just want to say I went back to work two weeks ago. Wed will be 8 weeks since treatment ended. I am working 3 12hr shifts a week in Labor and Delivery. I dont know how I did it/do it but its OK. It helps me feel "normal" and I am so tired of being "sick" I realize I am blessed and will not complain alot about treatment…
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Recurrence - looking for next steps
hi all, i was first diagnosed in Spring 2015 with squamous cell carcinoma tongue cancer. My surgeon tried to operate but changed his mind due to size and location of tumor and so I spent the summer on chemo-radiation as we tried to shrink the cancer. While it did shrink some, the cancer came back and I had a sub-total…